


From America to Tamriel

by Pynkest_of_Fae



Series: The Saga of the Dovahkiin [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Skyrim
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Aedra (Elder Scrolls), Canon Divergence, Cell Phones, Cold Weather Sucks, Daedra (Elder Scrolls), Eventual Relationships, F/M, Fantastical Racism, Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn - Freeform, Isekai, Modded Skyrim, Modern Character in Skyrim, Modern Girl in Skyrim, Modern Girl in Tamriel, Multi, Multiple Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, My First Fanfic, Original Character(s), Other, POV Alternating, Portal Fantasy, Rating May Change, Shy Girl, Skyrim Main Quest, enchanted objects
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 48,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22563250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pynkest_of_Fae/pseuds/Pynkest_of_Fae
Summary: A modern girl trapped in Skyrim tale... with a twist or two. Isi was a typical reclusive nerd, who finds herself suddenly plunged into her favorite video game. What sounds like a fantasy aficionado’s dream turns out to be a real nightmare. But luckily for her, she has been given a bit of magical help from the gods.Follow the journey of Isi Kanti as she learns to survive in the harsh world of Nirn and realizes that just because she was taken to Nirn, it doesn't mean that she is truly a lone dovah.
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Original Male Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: The Saga of the Dovahkiin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912042
Comments: 53
Kudos: 107





	1. Before the Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isi Kanti is a reclusive college girl with a love of video games. Her mother made her go camping so she’d get some fresh air and time away from her favorite game, Skyrim.
> 
> ‘You spend too much time in that stupid imaginary world,’ her mother says. 
> 
> This trip was supposed to be to get away... Fate has others plans however. It seems Isi will be dragged into the world of Skyrim again, but in a way like never before.

It was a warm summer evening. The sun was shining down upon the area. Camp Calafia is lovely this time of year. The weather was still warm, but not as hot as previous months. The lake that resides near the camp was an ideal place to have a picnic, and maybe even a swim. And to top it all off, the camp was spacious enough for people to visit during these...troubling times.

But we aren't here to discuss that. This story is about Isioma Kanti- or simply, Isi.  
Isi is a soft spoken young woman from sunny California. She’s only 18, and is honestly an absolute shut in. Since she was homeschooled most of her life, she didn’t have many hobbies. She thus developed a long of video games. Gaming offered her a glimpse into new and exciting worlds. That sense of whimsy about games never faded for her. She still wraps herself up in playing video games, just after her college classes now. Isi’s mother decided they should go on the camping trip so she could stop staying glued to her screen. 

However, Isi’s mother was aware this camp wasn’t free of foolishness. This campground was spacious and was frequented by nature lovers, and by LARPers who enjoyed covorting in the woods, pretending to be magical creatures. Isi’s mother didn’t really like all that ‘fantasy shit,’ but had taken her daughter here on a few occasions for roleplay battles or whatever they were called. It didn't matter to her, it was just good that the lot of cosplayers were out in the fresh air, at least.

Directing attention back to our main lady, Isi was currently walking along the hike trail. She hummed absentmindedly, adjusting a pair of glasses on her nose, that slid as she walked the dirt path with her dog. Her dog is a scruffy mutt named Montoya. Montoya, or Monty as she called him, was tugging his master along the trail, sniffing everything excitedly.

“Slow down, Monty,” the girl groaned. She stopped walking and let go of his leash. “Hm... actually, let’s play fetch.” That should get him to tire out a bit after a while.

She grabbed a stick and chucked it. The scruffy mutt ran after it. It took Monty a while to come back. She could still see him, so she wasn’t worried though. Monty picked up something and started to walk back. He didn’t have a stick.

“What’s in your mouth? Ugh, it better not be something gross,” Isi grumbled. She just hoped Monty didn’t pick up anything that’d make him sick. “Give.”

Monty opened his mouth and plopped gold coin into her hand. It was covered in drool and some dirt, so she couldn’t make out what was on the coin. “What the hell? Ya found money?” Isi asked before grabbing tissue from her backpack to wipe off the coin. “Bleh...”

To her surprise, when she cleaned off the coin, she realized it was a golden Septim, the currency from her favorite game. “Whoa, cool. I’m keeping this,” she said, to dazzled by the shiny coin to consider this stealing.

Isi looked towards the area where Monty got the coin from. She walked over and saw a trail of septims leading off the trail. “...Must be the LARPers. I’m sure they won’t miss a couple coins,” she said as she followed the little trail, as she adjusted her backpack. She knew the way back, so she wasn’t too worried about venturing off a little.

She soon amassed a little collection of ten coins. As she’d followed the trail, she ended up near a steep cliff. She was surprised that the apparent fantasy nerds had left so much stuff behind. She ended up with a good stash of the coins, even some that looked like platinum. After she finished scavenging, she realized she had been gone for too long. Her mother would be furious at her for wandering off without telling her, and for leaving the dog unattended. “I should go back now before mom kills me,” she mumbled to herself.

Just after she’d put the last of the replica septims into her bag, she was caught off guard by a loud roar rattling her to her core. She looked around nervously as she put her pack back on. “What was that?!” She couldn’t see anything that could produce such a sound.

To her surprise, a voice suddenly emerged from nowhere...and everywhere, like a whisper in the wind. _‘It’s time to go, little dragon,'_ said the mysterious amalgamation of voices, _'It is time.'_ Isi jolted and shook her head, covering her ears. “Am I going nuts?” She must be having some sort of hallucination. Auditory ones are a thing right? Or maybe the roleplayers set up some weird skit to scare outsiders? 

Regardless of the cause, the sourceless words tormented her with their creepy tone, the sound swirling around her. She felt dizzy. She stumbled, and lost her footing, falling off the cliff. As she fell, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first fanfiction storyline I’ve ever attempted. I’m sure I’m going to have troubles with it, but I’d appreciate support. Please leave some kudos and let me know what you think of the story so far. I’ll try to have the next chapter up soon :-)


	2. An Ambush in the Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Isi wakes up to find herself VERY far from home... In a whole other world even. 
> 
> She encounters a stranger, a Khajiit, and the two end up captured by the Imperials.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some minor edits 7/22

The last thing I can remember before blacking out is this... creepy voice, calling to me in the woods. What the hell did it mean? “Time to go”.... Go where exactly? 

It seemed I would find out eventually, as when I woke up, things were definitely very wrong. I woke up on the ground, with a major headache. I sat up and groaned, rubbing my eyes and adjusting my glasses. My ass felt cold. As my vision focused, I realized the reason I felt so cold was because I was in snow. “Snow!?” I’m in California, it doesn’t frickin snow in my area. I stood up and looked around frantically. I didn’t recognize anything around me, just lots of snow. From what I could tell, I was on a hill. This was my first time actually seeing snow at all in my life. ”Where in the hell am I?... What happened,” I asked myself. I saw my backpack on the ground. It must’ve fell off me when I ended up here. I picked up my bag and put it on my back.

I shivered as I started walking. I headed down the mountainside. My hiking boots were all soggy from the snow, my toes were abut numb. God, it was summer, why did I have to be in the snow? The campgrounds didn’t have any space large enough for a faux winterscape. Maybe I’m dead and this is all some weird limbo? I wouldn’t know anything unless I keep moving. Just keep moving, Isi.

As I walked, my footing slipped and I fell backwards, sliding down the mountain. Thank God I wasn’t up very high. I slid and crashed unceremoniously onto the ground. I landed near some town.

I stood up and headed towards the civilization. I was surprised to see that there was some sort of fight... no, a battle, was occurring before my eyes. Ahead of me was a flurry of red and blue soldiers locked in combat. Part of me hoped I found my way back to camp and these were all LARPers in a mock fight, but I disappointed and dumbfounded as I noticed the red armor was the Imperial armor from Skyrim... and it was definitely real armor. It didn’t look like the game models, but there’s no room to critique as I immediately found myself getting pulled down to the ground and into a bush. 

“What the—“ my words are cut off as I saw an arrow whizz through the air where my head just was seconds ago. I looked to see who grabbed me. I found myself now face to face with a cat man... Not a man in a fursuit, but a real life Khajiit. The face and all its little details were too lively and precise to be any form of cosplay. I’m face to face with a real God damn Khajiit. This confirmed it in my mind. I’m definitely not at camp anymore. I’m in Skyrim.... How is any of this happening?? I was torn from my thoughts as the cat-man spoke. At first I couldn’t understand him but the words soon became clear as he shook me and yelled.

“Is this one crazy?! You will be shot down here, child,” he said, his thick khajiiti accent rather striking.  
“I-I-,” I couldn’t find my words. I was still having a crisis here, having realized I’m in a world that shouldn’t exist. “I’m lost, very lost. I shouldn’t be here..”

Our brief conversation was cut short was the battle had apparently come to a close. An small grouping of imperials strode over to us, weapons drawn. I put up my hands in surrender.

“H-hey, um, I’m just a lost traveler... Don’t hurt me,” I said in a pleading tone.

They apparently didn’t buy it. A woman soldier glared at me and looked at the Khajiit who was with me.  
“A traveler... accompanied by a thief? A likely story.”

“I just ran into him, I don’t know him. And that’s racist, he’s not a—“ I reflexively tried to speak up against the racist (speciest?) comment when I noticed that the cat did in fact have a stormcloak’s outfit and some potions bottles, which he was stuffing furiously into a satchel. I looked at him like ‘really, dude?’ He looked at us sheepishly.

“Well shit,” I said. I looked back at the soldier who was looking more angry. So much for trying to talk my way out...

“I don’t have time for lies of a thieving cat’s accomplice. You both are coming with us.”

I started to cry and object when the soldier ordered the others to apprehend us. I was suddenly struck in the head by one of the guards. And now everything is black again. God damn it, I’m gonna get brain damage if I keep hitting my head.


	3. Entering Helgen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for an all too familiar cart ride. Or is it familiar at all? With extra passengers in the cart, this introduction will take some detours.

So, I was hit in the head again.... Ugh, it hurt worse this time. My head’s swimming. I probably have a knot on my head by now. 

I could hear people talking as I started to regain my senses. One voice in particular had caught my attention the most. 

“Hey you... you’re finally awake.”

I groaned softly as I lifted my head up to look at the source of the voice. I found myself looking into the face of a tall, blonde man... Ralof.

Then another man spoke up, catching my attention, Lokir. “The guard’s sure worked you over,” he said. I frowned slightly at the horse thief. 

Ralof cleared his throat and looked at me sympathetically. “I tried telling those imperial guards that you and that cat weren’t with us, but they didn’t care. I tried to tell them we wouldn’t have some noble’s daughter working under us, let alone a damn cat. But they didn’t listen. They just grabbed you, and hauled you two away.”

I was confused yet interested by Ralof’s commentary. A noble’s daughter? I guess he thinks that because of how fa— I mean, how well fed I am. Certainly not my attire, since I'm wearing hiking clothes. But his assumption of me wasn’t what stuck out to me most. It was the other part, about who I’d been captured with. “Me and...the cat?” I asked, quirking my head. This conversation was definitely different than in-game, so I felt thrown off. I looked to my left at saw the ‘cat’ in question. The Khajiit from before... I finally had a good look at him.He had a short mane of hair pulled into a topknot. He was tall, with strong arms but a thin frame like he didn't eat well, and his fur was a fascinating pattern, that of a bleached white tiger. I looked up at his eyes. They were startlingly blank, like he was blind. But he couldn't be, right? I could swear he was looking right at me as I gazed back at that milky blue void.

“....Sorry for getting you captured with me, little one,” he said, “Khajiit just wanted trinkets, not troubles.”

“Not your fault,” I mumbled. And it wasn't. Even if I hadn't run into him, I would've ended up here somehow. I just know it. 

“Aye, the imperial bastards grabbed anyone who was nearby, like this other thief over here,” Ralof interjected as he gestured his head to Lokir.

Lokir just grunted quietly as I acknowledged him. He shook his head and directed his focus back on Ralof. “Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy....”

Ralof sighed and grumbled. “Whether you like it or not, we’re all brothers and sisters in binds now.”

Then came a muffled grunt. I looked to the right and saw a tall man clad in dark fur. Ulfric Stormcloak. He looked like a true viking. He was clearly taller and older than Ralof, hairy, clad in fur and had a cloth gag in his mouth. He had an intimidating aura, but he seemed rather resigned to the situation we were in. “Hm,” I mused quietly as I observed him. 

Lokir noticed my staring and looked Ulfric and frowned. “And what’s wrong with you, huh?” He asked him in a bitter tone.

Ralof interjected with annoyance at the horse thief’s question. “Watch your tongue. You don’t recognize him? You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.”

Lokir’s snippy tone dropped and he looked scared now. “By the Gods... Ulfric, the leader of the rebellion. If they’ve captured you.... where are they taking us?"

Ralof stared down at his feet. “I dont know. At least Sovngarde will be waiting for us... our ancestors, feasting, mead...”

Lokir meanwhile was having a crisis, rocking slightly in his seat, repeating over and over, “This isn’t happening... It can’t be happening. I can’t die here.”

Seeing Lokir panick seemed to have triggered me as well. I’d been holding myself together pretty well until now. I teared up a little as I thought about how I don’t know if anything will actually play out like the story, if Alduin will come in time or if I’ll just end up dying here.... 

“Oh fuck, Oh God,” I muttered to myself, “I’m really gonna get my head chopped off?” I laughed and cried, feeling like I was losing my mind.

My terror was briefly interrupted by a striped, fluffy tail hitting my face. My expression scrunched as I looked over at the Khajiit. The batting and tickled of his tail temporarily distracted me from my panic attack.

“It’s going to be okay, kitten. The gods will protect you, little one,” the tiger striped man said after he'd relaxed me.

That actually managed to calm me down. I gave him a weak smile. I hope he's right. I'll take all the help I can get.

Any further conversation was stopped as the cart ride became a bit bumpier. I looked around, before realizing we’d made it into Helgen, and were moving over the stone path to be loaded off the cart. I tensed up, but let out a long sigh to calm myself. Try not to panic, Isi... You won’t die here, I told myself.

As we were getting off the cart, I heard Lokir praying. “Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh.... Divines, please help me."

I hopped off the cart after him, followed by the Khajiit. I looked forward and saw Hadvar, calling the names off that ‘damned list,’ as Ralof would say.

“Ralof of Riverwood,” Hadvar said. Ralof glared at the other man as he walked. “Traitor,” he cursed. Hadvar only sighed and kept going through the names.

“Lokir of Rorikstead,” was what he said next. Lokir looked panicked but wasn’t running yet. He pleaded with him. “Please, I’m not a Stormcloak, I shouldn’t be here!” Hadvar only shook his head in response. He pointed at his name on the list.

“It says right here that you are... I’m sorry, but you’ll have to—“ Hadvar didn’t get to finish his thought as Lokir bolted, shouting about how he wasn’t a rebel and had only stolen a horse. 

I knew too well what would happen next. I felt sick in my gut as the imperial captain had the archers strike him down.

“Anyone else feel like running?” She asked, her gaze cast around the remaining prisoners. No response from us. “Good.”

Hadvar then motioned for me to come forward. He looked concerned as his gaze cast down on me. “Who... are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minor edits 9/7/20


	4. Surviving Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following chapter has Isi praying for a monster. Alduin needs to show up or else she’ll get her head chopped. But once he’s there, can she make it through the following chaos? Or will she burn in the madness?
> 
> Let’s watch and find out.

I felt my spine stiffen at Hadvar’s question. It was still jarring to me, still coming to terms with me being here in Skyrim, in Helgen...

Hadvar cleared his throat when I wasn’t responding. “Name and homeland,” he said. 

“I... I’m...Isi,” I said quietly as I looked up at him, “and I’m from California.”

“That’s definitely not on this list.” he commented as he looked towards his captain. She looked at him bitterly. “Forgot the damn list, boy,” his captain said. “They’re all going to the block, including her and that oversized rug,” she said, referring to the Khajiit.

Hadvar cleared his throat as his gaze went back to me, and then to the Khajiit behind me. “I’m so sorry,” He said quietly. He then muttered under his breath. 

My head fell as we were sent over to the block now. It’s really happening, huh? The rest of the scene went by in a blur as I was feeling panicky again. That is, until the nord went up to the block. My eyes went wide and my blood went cold as I saw the executioner chop his head off. I felt sick.

“Next, the little redguard!” The captain said, her finger pointing at me. I felt frozen, my legs refusing to move. Suddenly, I found my voice. I spoke while looking towards the sky. “Oh for God’s sake.... Alduin! You better get here soon,” I said, begging for a damn dragon to be my saving grace. This earned some odd looks from the other prisoners. I saw Ralof and the Khajiit look at me with a curious expression. 

The captain then walked over and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me to the chopping block. “I’ve no time for foolish prayers, whelp. Nobody is going to save you.” She said before letting me go once I stood at the stone. I decided to say silent now.

I looked down at the dead man’s head in the basket. My gut turned and I threw up. “Gross,” I mumbled as I stared at the dismembered cranium I just hurled on. I got down on my knees, making a point to not breathe through my nose. I turned my head to the side, staring up at the executioner, shaking. I closed my eyes and started praying. Please God, don’t let me die here....

And soon enough it seemed that prayer was answered. I could hear a roar in the sky. My eyes snapped open again. Never had I thought I’d be happy to see a monster. Alduin landed atop the tower. He was... fucking massive! An enormous predatory beast, scales like obsidian, teeth like knives and those blood red eyes staring into my soul. He was looking at me... through me.

“Alduin,” I said in a terrified whisper. 

The world-eater then roared into the air, bringing about destruction. His shouting rattled me to my core. I fell from the force. I was overwhelmed and scared stiff, a combination of sensory overload and pure fear freezing me in place. Ralof came over to me, shaking me. “Lass, get up! The gods won't give us another chance!" I couldn’t move. I was petrified.

Ralof groaned and I suddenly found myself hauled over his shoulder as he ran into the watchtower. He dropped me once we were inside and slammed the door. I tried to find my breath. I stood up shakily, as I heard him and his leader talk. Ralof looked up at Ulfric, still shocked by what just happened.

“By Talos, is that truly a dragon? Can the legends be true?” He asked him. 

Ulfric ripped off the cloth gag that’d been in his mouth previously. “Legends don't burn down villages," he said plainly, his voice strong and powerful.

I gazed around the room as they talked. It was far bigger than it looked in game. I saw the wounded soldiers and looked at them with guilt, knowing they’re just going to bleed out. My thoughts were interrupted as the door of the tower flew open and the Khajiit ran in, gasping. In all the commotion, I’d forgotten about him. He let out a dry chuckle. “Khajiit lives!” He said proudly as he was happy to be alive.

Ulfric then spoke up, ignoring the cat’s entrance. “We can’t stay in here, we need to go,” he said, to get everyone’s attention.

Ralof looked around for a second before pointing towards the stairs. “Only way to go is up,” he said. One of the soldiers that wasn’t hurt, immediately ran up the stairs, and Ralof went after. I grabbed onto Ralof’s arm. 

“Wait!!” I said, as I remembered what was going to happen. He looked mad that I touched him. “Lass, what in Oblivion are you—“ His sentence was cut short as rubble and embers hit us as Alduin’s head had burst through the wall. I looked up in shock, feeling guilty as I saw the other soldier had gotten crushed under the broken wall. I couldn’t see his body, but there was blood all over the rocks.

Ralof looked at me with a questioning gaze, Ulfric as well. Ralof then climbed up the stairs again and pointed to the inn. “You’ll have to jump to the inn over there, lass.” I looked out the hole. The gap was way bigger than it looked it game.

“There’s no way I’m making that,” I said. I then heard the Khajiit come up behind me and grab me, now hauling me in his arms like a bride. “No time for complaining. We jump!”

“Are you crazy?” I asked, trying my best to flail despite my hands still being tied.

“Don’t worry. Khajiit lands on his feet... most of the time,” he said before jumping off the edge with me on his shoulder. I let out a yelp as he did so. Thankfully he did land on his feet, true to his word. We soon exited the building and came out into a ruined Helgen. We started to run, and soon enough we ran into Hadvar. I saw him pulling a boy away from his father, the child crying out as his father was soon burned by Alduin. 

Hadvar looked at the two of us with surprise and feeling slightly impressed we hadn’t died yet. “Still alive?” he asked as he eyed us. We simply nodded our heads in response. He gave a dry chuckle. “Well, stick with me if you wanna stay that way.” The imperial soldier then passed off the boy to an older man as he told him to leave and explained he’d find another way out.

And with that, Hadvar started to run through the rubble and such, pressing his back to the wall. “Stay close to the wall!” He shouted before Alduin landed on the wall and spewed fire onto the area ahead.

The Khajiit pushed my back to the wall with one arm. I felt terrified as I saw Alduin burning more of the town. Once he took off into the air again, we started running.

Soon enough, after passing the main gate, we made it to the doors of Helgen Keep. Ralof was just making it to where we were. He and Hadvar had a death stare going on between each other. 

“Ralof, you damned traitor, out of our way!” Hadvar shouted at the blue-clad Nord. 

“Me, a traitor?! You turned your back on our people long ago, Hadvar!” Ralof retorted.

I groaned at the argument. “Is this really the time for this??” I asked loudly.

I was interrupted by a loud roar. I looked toward the sound and saw Alduin swooping toward us. I screamed and it seemed there was no time to react to anything.

“Into the bloody tower!” the Khajiit shouted as we all rushed to the door. 

Ralof and Hadvar charged into the same room, practically clogging the door before the Khajiit pushed them back in, snatching me in as well. The door closed with a loud slam. 

My breathing calms as we all stop to catch our breath. My eyes went over the menagerie we’ve apparently assembled. A stromcloak, an imperial soldier, a Khajiit thief... and me.

Oddball grouping aside, at least we’re not outside anymore. We’re in Helgen Keep. We’re safe now… right?


	5. Dungeons and Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Isi’s finally in the keep, she’s that much closer to getting out of Helgen. But she’ll have to make it through the tower before she can see the sun again. Hopefully Ralof and Hadvar can stop fighting with each other long enough to get her to safety. Is Isi ready for the price safety costs though?
> 
> ( Side note: This is a long chapter )

Now that we’re all inside Helgen Keep for the time being.... we need to figure out what to do. As we stood just inside the keep, the two nords were busy gathering their thoughts. Meanwhile, the Khajiit cut off my binds. I rubbed my sore wrists and sighed.

Hadvar groaned as he rubbed his temples, thinking. He finally spoke up. “Okay... we’re all stuck in here, there’s no going back the way we came,” he said. He glanced at us all, pausing as his gaze went to Ralof. “We have to work together if we’re going to find another way out,” Hadvar added matter of factly.

Ralof tried to argue as he looked us over. “Are you crazy? I’m not working with a fucking cat, some strange girl and _you_ of all people! What if you just have us all arrested again after we get out? If we even get out, that is.”

The aforementioned cat had been irritated by the comment. “Oh shut up, you blue clothed baby,” he hissed, to which Ralof looked offended. “Who cares if the red one arrests us afterwards? Either way, we’re already doomed to death if we stay here forever. That dragon could topple this tower eventually. No more fussing,” he said as he stretched and dusted himself off. “Caecus hates Nords most of the time, but what other choice is there?” He asked the two before continuing, “I would rather work with you furless oafs than die outside.”

After listening to the Khaj— I mean, Caecus speak, the two nords finally agreed. Ralof sighed and nodded his head. “Aye... that’s a damn dragon outside... the bringer of the End Times... There’s no time for arguing anymore.” He paused and then added as he shook his grumbled quietly, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be happy about all of this.” he said before jabbing Hadvar’s side with his elbow.

Hadvar groaned slightly at being hit but brushed it off. “Right. Now that that’s settled, we need to try to find some weapons. Look around and see what you can find,” he said. “And for the record, I’m not going to try and recapture you guys... If we get out of here, you lot deserve your freedom.” 

I looked around the room curiously. Normally in game, I’d snatch practically everything so I could sell it off later. But I can’t do that in real life, right? I have be practical about what i do.

Just before I went to look inside a chest, Caecus stopped me. “Oh, before I forget, kitten.” I looked up at him. “Huh?”

He then reached into a bag he had on his hip and began to pull something out. I looked shocked as my backpack soon emerged from this small satchel. I could hardly believe it. The odd and apparently magic satchel made me think Mary Poppin’s magic bag. 

“Whoa!” I said aloud. “My backpack? Thank you,” I replied with a little smile. I hugged it tight, as Caecus went to look for anything useful in the room.  
I squeezed my bag tightly, since it’s the only thing I have from the real world right now. As I went to open up my bag, a piece of paper fell out of it. I looked confused. It was like a piece of old timey parchment. I picked it up and read it.

>   
>  _Greetings Isi Jakande, inside this bag of are your belongings from the other world. They’ve been blessed to help you better adapt to your new world. You’ve also been given a few extra things that may be of help to you. Be brave as you venture forth. The Gods will watch over you, you misplaced little dragon._
> 
>   
>  _Signed,  
>  A friend_
> 
> _PS - Stay close to Caecus, he’ll be a useful friend in your journey_
> 
> __

I felt confused by the note but also curious. What all did it mean?

I opened up my backpack and saw surprised and shocked to see it was some sort of void inside, a colorful abyss. I cautiously reached into the bag, blindly fishing around in it. I huffed quietly. I wish I had an inventory list or something, since I can’t see what’s actually in the bag. My hand caught something and I pulled it out. It was a gun, that my mom had in here for emergencies. It felt different now though, and had a sheen to it like the enchanted weapons in game. I shrugged and tucked it into my pocket so I could get to it easier. No clue what sort of enchantment it had. Regardless, it could be useful later, but hopefully I won’t actually end up having to kill anybody here.

Before I could get anything else out of the bag, Hadvar said we all had to move now. I strapped my backpack on and followed the group out of the room. I noticed that Ralof and Caecus had found some swords to use, the former handing me a little dagger as we walked.

We entered the next room, where I was shocked at what we saw. The imperial captain, the one who’d made me go to the chopping block was in here. She’d just cut down a stormcloak soldier. She had just removed her bloody sword from the man’s chest as she saw us. I froze up.

She looked at us for a second before glaring at Hadvar. “You’re helping the prisoner’s escape?!” She asked with an angry tone. “C-captain, please, we’re just trying to get out of here safely. We just need to find another way ou—“ He couldn’t finish explaining as she attacked him, ready to cut down the apparently traitorous Nord. Ralof reflexively lunges at her with his sword, since Hadvar hadn’t tried to defend himself. The two fought for a brief moment before Ralof won, killing her. He was a bit winded afterwards. Hadvar awkwardly thanked him. I could barely control my stomach, now seeing two dead people in the room with us. I threw up in a corner. Ralof looked over at me. “Such a weak stomach lass... You act as if you’ve never seen death.”

“People don’t fight where I’m from so no,” I said as I wiped my mouth off. 

“....Oh,” was his response. “You must’ve been very sheltered. Whatever the case, you fight to survive here in Skyrim, lass.” He sighed as he looked down at the captain’s body when he noticed she’d had keys on her hip. He then immediately looted said keys from her body and went to go unlock the gate.

“We really need to keep moving before we run into any more imperials. Let’s go,” he ordered.

I pulled myself together and quickly scurried past the dead bodies and followed him. We soon headed down the dimly lit hallway. 

I’d somehow gotten ahead of the men. I almost completely forgotten about the ceiling caving. “Wait,” I said, throwing an arm out. The men sounded confused. “Wait for what?” I heard one of them ask. As if on cue, the ceiling fell as the ground shook. Alduin’s roar from outside could b heard as the other end of the hall had collapsed. “Ugh, that shit is worse than I thought,” I mumbled to myself as I looked at the enormous amount of rubble now across from us.

It seemed that this was enough to set a certain someone off. Ralof abruptly turned me around to face him as he near shouted in frustration. “Enough‘s enough. You strange girl, you keep... knowing things! Like back in the room watchtower. And before then, that.... that Beast. When you were going to the block, you called out. That was it’s name, wasn’t it? I’ve kept quiet until now but it’s going to kill me not knowing how and why you know things, lass.” He was gripping my shoulders during this, which had scared me.

I shakily answered him. “I-it’s a very long story, but just know that I.... can see the future, in a way. It’s... not always exact though,” I said, half lying. I was bound to get questioned about me knowing different things at some point. I didn’t think it’d be right now though. My answer seemed to satisfy him enough. He let me go and sighed. “Sorry for shouting.... So you’re an oracle, like the old woman in Whiterun I’ve heard of?... I suppose that makes sense, you _are_ very strange.... But you’re far stranger than that old woman,” he said, eyeing me suspiciously. He looked like he wanted to keep badgering me, but he knew this wasn’t the time. “Let’s just keep moving,” he said.

I pushed the door open to the next room, where meats and herbs hung on the ceiling and could see a fireplace. What I couldn’t see was any imperials though. I was surprised but glad. I didn’t vocalize it though. We soon started to look around for useful things we could take from the store room. I was relieved that the potions are still in the barrel like it was in-game. At least that’s still the same. My eyes widened as I inspected the potion bottles. The red liquid inside looked pretty, and appeared to faintly glow. I quickly stuffed them into my backpack. After we’d got a few more supplies, we moved on. My steps slowed as we were approaching the torture room.

“A torture room,” Ralof said quietly, his words laced with rage. 

“I never liked these. I always felt them barbaric,” I heard Hadvar say in possible attempt to try and calm his counterpart. “Not even rebels deserve treatment like this...”

This was far more graphic than it appeared in game. I’d never taken the graphics as very scary, but this was true horror. In cages were starved men’s decaying bodies, a tortured corpse lay flayed on a table. It was awful. At least my stomach was empty, or else I’d be sick yet again.

The torturer and his assistant had just downed two stormcloak soldiers when we’d arrived. It was terrifying as the old man bolted at us to attack. Luckily with three men against two, the fighting wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought it’d be. I can’t believe I’m glad that Caecus and the two Nords killed the old torture and his assistant so quickly. As we passed through the blood-scented room, I could hear Ralof muttering to himself as he looked at his fallen comrades. “Damn empire... I just hope Jarl Ulfric’s made it through here already.” I was going to reassure him but decided to stay silent.

As we made our way through what looked like an old passageway that’d gotten reopened, I noticed boot prints in the ground. My body tensed as I had try creeping feeling in my bones that I would definitely end up fighting soon. I can’t just hide behind the men forever. I nervously drew my gun from my pocket. As we rounded the corner, imperial soldiers came into view. An arrow whizzed by and then I watched as the rest of my little party charged at them. Hadvar looked hurt as he was fighting his own faction with us. They wouldn’t killed him otherwise though. Just as they were finishing off the soldiers, I saw an archer aiming at me now. I felt my blood run cold. In a panic, I raised my gun and fired. _‘It’s him or you,’_ I thought in my mind. _‘Him or you.’_ My first shot missed. The loudness off the gun reverberated in my head. I fired again, this time hitting him right in the head. I felt awful and sick, my body shaking as I’d just killed this man. 

I didn’t even notice at first that the others had started staring at me. I was busy trying to see through my tears. “What the Oblivion was that?!” the three men basically asked simultaneously. They all looked scared and confused. Caecus was covering his ears from the sound.

“I-it’s... a weapon, from where I’m from. It’s called a gun,” I said shakily. 

Hadvar tried to calm me as he was currently the closest to me. He rubbed my shoulder as he chuckled dryly. “It’s a mighty powerful weapon to have, lass. You just... obliterated him,” he said, his own voice shaky. I heard Ralof mutter something about ‘damned magic’ or something. I could practically feel the three men asking a thousand questions about me in their heads. 

As I got over my nerves, I carefully put my gun away, making sure it had the safety on. Now that the way was cleared, we started to leave. We crossed the short drawbridge just before the path caved in behind us. I shivered as I looked at the rubble. Definitely no going back...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caecus’ name means blind in Latin. I gave him that name because my actual Skyrim character has “blind” eyes. Plus I thought it was interesting to have a Khajiit have an imperial name, like how there’s that dark elf in Riften with an argonian name.


	6. Onward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spiders, Poison and Bears, oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn’t very long, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> (Edit: fixed a few mistakes)

We’re almost through the Keep completely and on the path to freedom, if I recall the map correctly. I haven’t been always right here though... I hope it’s not actually more to it than I think there is.

We walked through a little stream of water than was in our way. The walkway was currently illuminated, light peaking down on us through small holes in the ceiling. It was a pleasant surprise considering how dim everything else was. My thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a fussy cat. I was momentarily amused as I realized the sound came from Caecus. I was amused at seeing Caecus was mad to be getting his feet wet. 

And just as quickly as our path had been lit, it was immediately darkened again as we veered into another part of the cave. The following cavern was darker than I’d imagined it be. Larger too. We stumbled through the darkness, occasionally bumping into each other. Caecus didn’t seem to have any issues though, to which I vaguely remembered cats can see in the dark. I found myself grabbing hold of his tail as we walked, so I’d stop tripping every few feet. Eventually we were able to see more. Although, I wish I didn’t see this, honestly. I saw frosty webbing faintly glowing in the dark, clinging to the walls. I tensed up. “Oh fuck, it’s the spiders,” I whispered to myself. How could I forget the spiders? Even in the game, I was always scared by them. 

I could hear Ralof and Hadvar ready their weapons. They’d moved ahead of us by now. I nearly shit myself as we walked a few more feet and practically ran into the spiders. They were fucking huge, like horses. I was too petrified to react when one spat a misty wad of toxic gunk in our direction. Caecus had dogged it but I got hit square in the chest with the poison.

I soon found myself doubled over on the ground. My body felt insane, like my blood was freezing. It hurt and I’d tensed up. This was so much scarier than a dumb poison effect on a screen. I felt like I was probably dying. I heard someone rummaging loudly through a bag. I turned my head and saw Caecus. He abruptly shoved a bottle of something in my mouth, telling me to drink. It tasted gross. It was like over-sweetened cherry juice or something. It was sickly sugary yet simultaneously bitter. I choked it down and groaned. “God— Nasty!,” I said. The man-tiger chuckled softly at my displeasure. “Yeah, the cure poison ones taste awful. But it was the potion, or an hour of agony,” he said with a shrug, his look inquiring which option I preferred. I got quiet, knowing I couldn’t have dealt with being in pain like that for an hour. “....well, um, thanks,” I said quietly. “Thank you.” He had chucked once more, then pressed his forehead to mine, rubbing against me much to my confusion. It was an odd action, but at least he felt soft. I just assumed it was a weird way of saying ‘you’re welcome.’

After he helped me up off the ground, I stretched my arms. My face soon scrunched in disgust as my eye caught Ralof and Hadvar. They looked at us in annoyance. The pair of Nords were covered in spider guts. “I swear to Talos, I hate spiders,” Ralof cursed. Hadvar grunted in what seemed like agreement.

I found the pair being covering in bug goo was somewhat funny. I laughed a little, it made me feel less scared about everything for the time being. 

“You guys look gross,” I said. “Let’s keep going, so we can finally get out of here.” As I passed them, I remarked quietly that they definitely need to bathe.

Hadvar was apparently annoyed by this and. “Hey! Why didn’t you just fire your... gun-thing? Surely that would’ve been helpful, _Miss Oracle._.”

I huffed and sighed in response. “Guns aren’t made for giant bugs. Those don’t exist where I’m from, guns are just for, like, people... maybe occasionally an animal. It wouldn’t have helped here.” I said. I heard him question where I’m from. I ignored it. I then paused and stopped walking. “Oh, before I forget, um.... there’s a bear,” I said as we’d just made it into the next area of the cave.

“Oh… Gods, you’re right,” the man said as he caught sight of it. Hadvar then took the lead. He had his bow in hand, moving carefully. Soon, we all came face to face with the bear. The big hairy beast was sleeping in the path ahead. He shushed us as we stopped for a moment. “I really don’t want to fight a bear,” he said as he looked back at us, to which we were all in agreement. Ralof chimed in, “Aye, after those spiders, I’m pretty beat…” He glanced at the bear and then back at us. “I say we sneak past it. Alright?” No objections, we all agreed. “Right then, let’s go,” he said as he started to sneak past the bear carefully. 

After Ralof, went Hadvar, then me and Caecus. We kept sneaking after we were past it, not wanting to accidentally wake it up on the way out. Unfortunately, Caecus tripped over a rock and unceremoniously hit his face on the ground. “Shit!” He swore harshly and a bit too loud. We all froze as we heard growling. The bear was waking up. We all looked at each other, and then booked it to the end of the cave. Much to my relief, the bear didn’t follow us.

Soon enough, we finally saw light. The change in light hurt my eyes a little. I teared up and rubbed my eyes. We ran out of the cave, and stopped the catch our breath. As I heezed, I couldn’t help but start to laugh from relief. They looked at me a little funny but I didn’t care. 

“We’re not dead!” I said triumphantly as I threw my hands up excitedly.  
This made Ralof chuckle. “That’s right. We’re all alive.”

“We’re alive! I’m alive,” I said before the chilly air caught me. “I’m fucking cold,” I said with a shiver. Then make matters worse, it seemed all the stress of everything had caught up with my body at once. I fell over gracelessly. “Oof” I said as I now lay gracelessly on the ground. As I lay there, I could see Alduin flying to who knows where, in the distance in the sky.

Hadvar looked at me on the ground and rolled his eyes. “We’re not out of the blue yet. Get up,” he fussed. I didn’t budge. My body has basically noped out on movement for the time being. “Mm-nh, nah, I’m dead,” I said while laying there, my legs tired.

I then heard a groan and was abruptly being tugged by the leg. I felt offended. I looked up to see it was Ralof, now dragging me on the ground. “If you’re going to be so stubborn as to not use your damn legs, you’ll be dragged. My sister lives not far from Helgen, so we’re headed to her town. Riverwood.” He then gestured to Hadvar, “The empire-lover’s got family there too. Your uncle, right?” He asked as he looked over at the red nord.

“Yes, but— Must you be so brutish? She’s a lady,” Hadvar hissed as he watched Ralof drag me. I flailed helplessly and started to squirm. “Yeah, let go, you jackass!” I whined as I was dragged down the path. Ralof dropped my leg and turned, looking down at me. “Now will you walk?” He asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

I got up and groaned, stretching. I was mad at him for dragging me on the ground. Now my hair is even shittier than before. “Fuck you, Thor,” I muttered as I walked past him. I grumbled under my breath. I looked around for a moment. Everything looked so… pretty, honestly. The scenery back at my camp was definitely different than the half-snowy landscape here. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. It was still a trip to me. Skyrim. 

“Which way’s Riverwood?” I asked as I looked back at the men. “This way, Lass,” Hadvar said as he led the way. I followed behind him. We were now on our way to civilization… I hope they have bathrooms.


	7. Of Stones and Rivers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our band of Helgen escapees get a quick blessing before finally entering Riverwood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t plan on having such a long gap in between postings. Quarantine has given me major writer’s block and a lack of motivation. I just hadn’t had the will to write. But I’ll try to be more consistent again. It’s important to keep myself occupied.

The walk to Riverwood is taking far longer than Isi could have anticipated. _‘It’s so boring!’_ She thought to herself. They’ve been walking about half an hour and she still couldn’t see the village yet. While they walked, Her mind wandered about. _‘Just how long was Ralof going to drag me? That dick, he knew the walk was long. I’m tired, I wanna lay down.’_ She was not built for all this walking. She’s asthmatic. It was honestly a miracle she even made it through Helgen without having a full on asthma attack during the events. But for now, she didn’t have to worry about such things. All that mattered was walking.

She managed to keep herself occupied, looking at plants and the occasional rabbit that would run through the grass nearby. Seeing all the green and nature was nice. Even though Camp Calafia was definitely pretty, the forests of California paled in comparison to the one she was in, in her opinion. She’d always had a soft spot for the forests of Skyrim. So, seeing them in real life was incredible. It was tranquil since it’s still morning, or at least she thinks it is. There’s no way to tell right now. Regardless, the time of day accompanied by the lack of craziness was enough to made the scenery put her at ease. It nearly completely soothing her mind from all the chaos that happened earlier. Isi felt safe...for now.

The former recluse’s thoughts of greenery faded as something began to come into view. A small collection of stone pillars stood proudly on the path ahead. The guardian stones. Isi was naturally felt drawn to them. Standing stones, blessed by the Aedra. She briefly marveled at the thought of what these rocks were capable of. Could they really bestow blessings and magical abilities like when this all was a game? Thirteen of these exist in total if memory serves her. In front of her lie only three though, each of which she knew the names of by heart. Although the engraving on the front of the stone helps, obviously. The Warrior, the Thief and the Mage. She felt compelled to choose a ‘blessing’ for herself. 

Her mind became a blur as the stones seemingly beckoned her. Soon her hand made contact with cold stone. She regained her senses as she found herself touching the Mage Stone. A bright beacon of light shot skyward. She felt somewhat mesmerized by the magical glow of the rock. She couldn’t get herself to let go of the stone. Her own hand was soon accompanied by a large white furred one. She glanced at Caecus, who apparently seeked the same blessing as her. She would have assumed him to want the thief stone considering how he acted when they met. But maybe that would be to stereotypical?

The light that came from the stone got stronger as the two groped the pillar. The glow then it slowly dissipated. Once the light was gone, the two removed their hands from the stone. Isi felt a little odd after her apparent ‘blessing’. Her hands felt rather tingly, like there was something in her that wanted out. She tried to shake the feeling off for now. She’s definitely not ready to see if she could actually do any magic.

The two Nords that were with them were watching the pair with mixed expressions. “Mages,” Ralof muttered like it was a swear, to which Hadvar elbowed him in the gut. “Of course she’d pick magic, you twat. She’s an oracle after all,” Hadvar retorted. The exchange made Isi feel a tad awkward. She felt bad that she was still leading a lie as of now, but she also wasn’t ready to reveal any truths about herself yet. So she’ll keep pretending to be an oracle.

After some light tussling, the pair of Nords chose their own blessing, both picking the Warrior of course, they motioned for the group to press on.

They continued onward, soon nearing the town of Riverwood after what felt like eternity. The sun was now showing signs of it now being past noon. Once the group neared the village gate, the two blondes stopped, to think things through. Hadvar looked over at the group and spoke up first.

“My uncle Alvor lives just inside the gate, so let’s go,” Hadvar started to say. He was cut off by Ralof interjecting, “Oi, we cant all follow you, we’re still in a civil war if you forget.... I mean, what would everyone think if we walked in together, with a fat little redguard and her pet cat?” Isi felt offended by the comment, but knew she must look strange to the residents of Skyrim anyway. Rudeness aside, he did have a point. Isi and Caecus stuck out like sore thumbs in this village of Nords.

Hadvar groaned in response to Ralof’s comments and nodded softly. “Aye... well,” he started to say, “You take one and I’ll take the other then. We’ll just split up.”

Ralof agreed rather easily. He looked between Isi and Caecus. He opted to take the girl since he wasn’t keen on having a ‘giant cat’ in his sister’s house. And so the group veered off into different directions for now. While Hadvar took Caecus to see his uncle, Ralof led Isi around the perimeter of the village, entering closer to his sister’s mill. As the pair approached, a tall Nordic woman could be seen, looking toward them in surprise. 

“Ralof, is that you?” Gerdur asked before her eyes focused on his diminutive traveling companion, “and who’s this?”


	8. Recounting a Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ralof and Isi settle down in Gerdur's home, to discuss the events that transpired at Helgen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy a nice short chapter

The story last left off with Gerdur reuniting with her younger brother and inquiring about what all happened. Why was he here, why did he have a girl with him, etc. Ralof hadn’t explained fast enough apparently, because she had enough time to start coming up with possibilities on her own. “Did you come all the way home just to tell me you found a tiny bride?”

Isi was embarrassed by this. Why did that have to be the first thought she had? Well, actually the reaction did make some sense. Isi definitely had an appearance closer to a ‘plump, young bride’ than a rebellious soldier... However it was still an awkward thing to hear. And a little sexist.

Ralof scoffed and shook his head in response to the question, laughing softly. “No, Gerdur, she’s not a lover. She’s a friend… Look, I’ll explain everything, but we should go inside first.” He said as he motioned toward his sister’s house. He didn’t want all the neighbors hearing, after all.

Gerdur listened and nodded in response, telling the pair to go inside and wait while she fetched her husband. They did so thusly and waited inside of her house. Isi found it rather cozy, albeit slightly chilly due to insulation not really being existent. It was nice and rustic looking, with its stone walls and medieval feel. She could also smell food that had been prepared earlier. It made her feel incredibly hungry. But she wouldn’t just start stuffing her face or anything. It’d be rude to eat a stranger’s food without asking. She ain’t Goldilocks.

After a few minutes of waiting, Gerdur returned with her husband, Hod. When the man entered the house and his gaze immediately fell upon his brother-in-law and the girl who accompanied him, his expression reading confusion and slight shock. “Ralof? What’re you doing here? And who’s the girl?” He asked.

Now that everyone was here, it was finally time to explain what exactly happened. Ralof began to recount the events that transpired as he sat down at the long dining table. He downed some ale that Gerdur had poured. She offered one to Isi, to which she tried to decline but was given one anyway. Isi took a small sip before her face scrunched intensely. She‘s not much of a drinker, so this tasted very weird to her.

Isi then awkwardly held onto the tankard while Ralof talked. He explained about the ambush at Darkwater Crossing, getting sent to the headsman at Helgen and the events that followed. He failed to mention that Hadvar and Caecus had any involvement in this endeavor. After finishing the recap, Ralof reflected for a moment. “We would’ve been dead if that dragon hadn’t shown up,” He said as he took a long sip of his drink, “I still can hardly believe it all, and I was there.” He paused and gestured at Isi. “I owe this girl my life honestly. I don’t think I would’ve made it out without her help. Her... “gift”... was very useful.”

Once the story was over, Gerdur and Hod both looked at Isi, amazed by what all Ralof had told them. Gerdur gave a weak chuckle before she spoke to the girl. “Heh, you’re quite an extraordinary one, lass. I want to thank you. It really sounds like you saved my brother’s life with your foresight.” Hod chimed in, “Aye, we should find some way to repay you.” Hod paused briefly as he glanced around the room. “We only have one extra bed, but we can give you some supplies to keep. We don’t have any gold to spare, but the inn’s always got open beds. I’m sure if you asked, they could let you stay at least the night.” Isi smiled softly at how nice the couple was being. “Thank you, you’re really kind.” Even though she’s an adult as well, she felt like Gerdur and Hod could be like aunt and uncle figures during her time here… however long that will be exactly. 

Her attention shifted as her stomach growled loudly. Hod chuckled in his seat as he looked at her. “Help yourself to anything you like, lass,” he said before looking over at Ralof, who was already stuffing his face by now, “After that ordeal, you must be starved.” And so, Isi proceeded to dig into the food that was spread across the table. She was indeed super hungry after what happened at Helgen. She ate several pieces of fish, poultry, bread and such. Everything was really good, even with the only seasoning being salt. After the meal, Gerdur offered to give Isi some new clothes. The Nord woman gave her a nice looking dress. The fabric was a bit scratchy, but still, it looked nice. Isi wasn’t keen on ditching her own clothes though, so the dress along with some other essential supplies were all stuffed into her backpack. Now that everyone seemed to be settled, Gerdur had something to tell Isi. “Lass-” She was then cut off by the girl in question. “My name’s Isi… Ralof, um, didn’t say it.” “ _Isi,_ ” Gerdur continued, “I’m going to need you to do something. My brother is going to be headed back to Winterhold, to find word of Jarl Ulfric, so he can’t do this… You have to tell the Jarlof Whiterun about what happened at Helgen. Riverwood’s defenseless. We’ll need help from him if we’re to stay safe with dragons about.” She stopped talking as she looked Isi over. The young woman was clearly very tired from the mess of a day she’s had. She sighed. “It takes a few hours to get there, just follow the north road. You can do this for me tomorrow. Yes?” She asked. “Of course,” Isi said, not wanting to disappoint the lady by saying she definitely can’t travel by herself. “I’ll head out tomorrow. For now I’ll… head to the inn. You said it’s close by, right?”

Once she got ready to go, she said goodbye to Ralof and his family, thanking them again for everything. She heard Ralof telling her to stop by Windhelm if she ever travels that way, and that Ulfric could use a girl like her and such. The exchange made her a bit uneasy. She wasn’t keen on getting involved in a civil war… No worrying about that now though. Isi took a deep breath and sighed before she left the longhouse. She’d been in there longer than she thought. The sun was getting lower in the sky. Now she headed for the Sleeping Giant Inn, desperately wanting a bed and hopefully a bath.


	9. Sleeping Giants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isi gets a room, a bath... and an unexpected roommate

After leaving Gerdur’s longhouse, I made my way through the village. While walking, I noticed more and more differences about the world I found myself in. The world was far bigger than I could’ve thought. Riverwood was definitely larger than the measly fifteen or so residents that the game provided. There were many more houses in reality. It was a bustling community, with curious onlookers commenting among themselves as this stranger roamed their streets. Two of such snoops were a pair of children, a boy and a girl. They ran into me while playing tag. They looked at me curiously. 

“Who are you? What’s your name?” the girl asked, her eyes full of curiousity, “I’m Dorthe!”

The boy on the other hand was less friendly asking things like, “Why are you so short?” I groaned at both of the kids’ pestering. I sighed. “My name’s Isi, I’m… a traveler-- er, adventurer. I’m just starting out.” She’d hoped that would be a good enough response but apparently it wasn’t. “An adventurer? You’re tiny! I’m taller than you, and you look weak. I could beat you up,” the rude boy said. Dorthe promptly whacked him for speaking that way. “Frodnar, be nice! You can’t talk that way to grown ups.” 

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Dumb, nosy kids. I wanted to ignore them. I was tired enough already. The kids however kept following, bugging me with questions. I just kept moving, tuning out them and the murmurs from nosy neighbors. I wasn’t actually focused on where I was walking, until I almost tripped on the steps of a building. I looked at the sign once she regained her footing. The sign depicted a giant, dozing away. This was indeed the Sleeping Giant Inn.

I sighed quietly before shooing the children away. “Go home, I’m a very busy lady,” I mumbled before going into the inn. Was that rude? Sure, but those two kids were some of her leasts favorite npcs, and they were almost as annoying irl. “Oh.... well, okay. Bye!” Dorthe said before dragging off a disgruntled Frodnar. Now Isi was alone again.

I entered the inn, opening the door. Old timey music hit my ears. There was a man playing a lute inside. I don’t remember his name. I think that was one of the guys who liked that Camilla lady. As I walked in, I realized the inn was, like many other things I’ve encountered, much bigger than imagined. Also, it was crowded. I made my way over to the one of the innkeepers behind the counter. I huffed as I approached the counter, seeing it was rather high and I had to stand awkwardly on her toes so she could see properly. Stupid short legs... The innkeep gave me a questioning look. I cleared my throat. “I’d like a room. For the night at least, please.”

“Can you pay, stranger? This isn’t a charity,” he said paused leaning over the counter, looking me up and down, “or an orphanage. Besides, we’re booked.” I frowned at the remark.

“I’m not a kid. And... I-I can pay,” I said, sounding unsure of myself. I dug through my backpack, as hoping to find anything helpful. I was relieved and surprised to find a heaping handful of coins, gold and platinum septims. I had no idea how much stuff was, so I held up a gold septim. “How long would this get me?” I asked. The man looked shocked. 

“A gold piece is at least a 3 months stay...” he said. Now was my turn to look shocked. “Eh?” was my response. The innkeeper looked at me like I was dumb. “Kid, a good septim’s worth as much as 100 silver pieces. One night’s just a silver coin.”

“...Ohhhh” I said, feeling out of place. I heard murmurs from townsmen now, about me being rich.“Well, where I’m from originally, we used different money... heh...” Now I began to wonder how much a platinum coin was worth. Holy hell, maybe I am rich?

The innkeep groaned. “I’m gonna get a headache,” he cursed under his breath. “Look, just give me the coin and you stay however long you feel. Your room is at the end of the hall. Okay?” I didn’t react to the fact that he’d lied about the place being full a minute ago.

“O-oh. Um, thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah….” 

I was walking away but then stopped as I realized how filthy I was. In this well lit inn, I could see the soot covering parts of my clothes. I turned back. “One more thing…. Where can I take a bath?”

“Bathroom‘s down the opposite hall,” he said.

“Thanks.”

I was glad they had a bathroom here. I walked down the hall and into the washroom. Towards the entrance of it was an arrangement of medival toilets, which were basically low grade, wooden porta potty looking things. It stunk something fierce, but I really needed to go. I shuddered after the little ordeal. I definitely need a bath now. A door led from the toilet room to a bath hall. There were several tubs filled with hot water. I found some soap by the tub. It was some hella rough soap, but it was better than nothing. I disrobed and climbed into the tub. After a long scrubbing, making sure to get all the prison dirt and ash off of my body. I sighed as I glanced at my dirty clothes. My hiking clothes I was wearing were dirty as hell. Maybe I’ll find somewhere to wash them tomorrow? Once out of the tub, I changed into the dress I got from Gerdur. I then grabbed my things and headed to my room.

As I was walking, the innkeep called my attention. He told me he had someone room with me, since all the beds were full now. I grumbled silently. Who the hell would he stick with me? I kept walking to my room and opened the door. To my surprise, or maybe not so surprising in retrospect, a certain man was in the room.

“Oh? Well hello again, kitten,” Caecus said.

I was flustered slightly. Stuck in a new world and now I’m rooming with him?... 

Caecus waved at me. “That one innkeep, Ognar said this room was big enough for two.”

I glanced into the room. I could only see one bed. I looked back up at Caecus. Was he serious right now? 

“Don’t worry, Khajiit is fine on the floor,” he said as he patted my head.

I cleared my throat to find my voice again. “Right…. Um, make yourself comfortable?” 

I followed him in, feeling awkward from the situation we’re forced in. The room was nicer than expected. A bit big, having a small eating table and a bookshelf. I sat down on the bed. I took of my backpack and sighed. I looked at Caecus. “So…. how, um, are you? I was curious what happened to you when we split up. You went to Hadvar’s house, right?”

He nodded his head as he sat on the chair at the table. “Yes. The uncle.. the blacksmith, was nice. Nicer than other Nords. He gave Khajiit spare clothes. Though I had to rip holes for my tail,” he chuckled.

“Heh..”  
I tried to relax. I was nervous. I’ve never slept in a room with a stranger, let alone a 7ft furry. I took off my backpack and stretched. I climbed onto the bed. I sighed and tried to relax. 

“Kitten,” I heard him say. 

“Isi” I interrupted.

“Isi… Caecus knows this isn’t...the best sleeping situation, but.. Thank you, for letting me stay. Khajiit wouldn’t have blamed this one for kicking him out.”

I shook my head. “Everyone needs a place to sleep… Um, goodnight, I guess?” I was an awful conversationalist. I laid down. I saw Caecus try and get comfortable on the floor. I gave him a pillow, but it still didn’t look comfortable.

“Sleep tight,” he said with a yawn. “Try not to dream of dragons tonight,” he said, making light of what happened this morning. I just scoffed and rolled over in bed. I thought it would be hard to sleep, but once I got comfortable, I found myself drifting off rather easily. Hopefully I won't actually dream of dragons.


	10. A New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun rises on a new day and our odd duo has things to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/4  
> Hello readers,
> 
> Sorry for my lack of activity. I’ve had to deal with school and family issues this past two months. But I’m going to try to be active on here again. I have not forgotten about my fic and will do my best to keep working on it.
> 
> Hopefully I won’t have to disappear again soon
> 
> Anyway, on to the story

After the troubling day that I’d had, getting to sleep was a blessing. I didn’t even care that the bed was hard, and somewhat itchy. Once I fell asleep, all the thoughts of my horrible day faded away...

I found myself opening my eyes. I got out of bed. I was back home with my mom. I was walking down the hall to the living room. “You’ll never believe the weird dream I had,” I called out. I sniffed the air. I could smell breakfast was ready. The closer I got, I could see the food spread on the table. My mom had made my favorite breakfast: pancakes and omelettes. It looked so good. I began running towards the breakfast table, but not getting any closer. It seemed with each step, the hallway stretched, pushing the living room, my mom and the food further away. I tried to run faster, and faster. Suddenly I found myself falling in a dark void until… I felt a bang. 

I found myself lying awkwardly on the floor. I apparently had been actually moving in my sleep and knocked myself out of the bed. Just a dream....

“Ow,” I grunted. I had yet to focus on where I was. “Momma,” I mumbled as I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Don’t eat all the pancakes.”

As I opened my eyes and focused, I was disappointed to find not my mother but instead my forcibly given roommate. I wished I’d dreamt this place, but no. It was reality. I really am trapped in Skyrim. 

Caecus just looked at me, his brows furrowed in slight confusion from my previous sentence. “What is a... pancake?” 

I sighed and huffed and I stood up. I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s a sort of food. It’s made of flour...eggs, uh, sugar and—“ I cut myself short. I just noticed Caecus was holding my backpack, and had a hand in it. I felt offended. “Are you going through my stuff??”

Caecus pulled a sheepish expression. “Heh... Habit. Also, it’s good to know your friends, yes?”

“Friends?...” I asked. I paused in thought. I suppose almost dying with someone would make a sort of bond. “I guess.... But you should ask first!”

I went over to him and reached for the bag, pulling it. When I rather rudely snatched it from his grip, out flew something from the opening.  
“Huh?” 

I looked to see what it was. It was my phone, now laying face down on the floor. I let out a little gasp. I forgot I even had my phone in my backpack. I scrambled to grab it, dropping my backpack. I unlocked it and was surprised to find it still had a full charge... and WiFi signal? It’s like 7am. It’s damn too early in the morning to think hard about it. I immediately tried to call my mom, but there was only static. I sighed in defeat. I can’t call her. She doesn’t know where I am.... Oh God, she’s gotta be worried sick.

I got distracted from my sad mood as I looked at my phone more intently. Most of my apps were gone and replaced by others. I noticed I still had my web browser. I was tempted to open it but a notification displayed on a different app caught my eye. I had a new app on my screen that read ‘log book’, and had the Skyrim logo on it. I opened up the application and found myself looking at a somewhat familiar set up of an inventory list. The list displayed everything that was currently in my backpack— or magic satchel, as the app referred to it as. It also had smaller, more defined groupings such as a tab labeled spells and another for potions/food, etc.

“Interesting,” I said to myself. This would definitely be helpful later on. I didn’t take the time to see what all was listed in my inventory though. “I’ll totally need to use this.”

My train of thought was interrupted by Caecus. He sounded confused.  
“What’s that... thing in your hand?”

I turned to look at him with an awkward chuckle. I forgot he was standing there.

“It’s, um... a device from my homeland. Yeah. You use it to communicate with people around the world.” I held out the phone to him cautiously. “It can also do many other things too. Like tell you important information, and take pictures... See?” I turned on the selfie camera as I held the phone to his face.

Caecus furrowed his brow awkwardly and gave a nervous chuckle.  
“Now is a good time to mention Khajiit is blind, yes?”

“You’re what??” I looked shocked and confused. “What do you mean you’re blind? But you— How?” The Khajiit that’s been hauling me around and that I’ve seen fight people... can’t see?

Caecus chuckled. “This one thinks Khajiit’s eyes are supposed to look this way?” He questioned, in reference to his ghostly blue eyeballs.

“Well...yeah?” I said in response.

“Ah, no, no. Khajiit really can not see. Yes.... lost my sight as a cub,” Caecus said. “I sense vibrations, outlines and such things through magic," he said, "and sometimes if I really focus myself, I get glimpses of color.” He perked up slightly as he spoke, seeming more comfortable talking about his condition. "I learned how from an old mage I knew." 

“Ohh,” I say in response. I guess that makes sense? Hell, it’s a world with magic, why wouldn’t he be able to do that? Kind of reminds me of Toph from Avatar.. “Well anyway, yeah the thing in my hand is a phone. It’s.... a sort of magic, I guess you could say?”

I sat the phone down on the little table that was in the room. I sat my bag down on the ground. I stretched and yawned, which earned a yawn back from Caecus.

The Khajiit had a lazy smile on his face. He turned his blind gaze to my face. “Your home sounds to be full of many exciting magics, Isi. I’d like to visit sometime,” he said to me as he seemed to be trying to imagine what my home is like.

“Heh... I don’t know if you could,” I reply. 

I shook my head. I don’t even know if I can get home myself, let alone bring a giant Khajiit for a visit. I then remember that I do have a ‘mission’ I’m supposed to worry about right now. I open my backpack and grab out my clothes from the day before.

“Can you cover your eyes for a second? I know you can’t see but still,” I said before I started to get changed. It felt weird doing so in front of Caecus even though he’s blind. This room lacks anything to hide behind, so I didn’t have any other choice.

I got dressed rather fast, putting on my dirty hiking clothes, my shirt and shorts somewhat covered in ashes and filth, which made me smell like a barbecue pit. My nose scrunched. It was smelly but I had hoped I’d find somewhere to wash them eventually.

“Hey, Caecus... could you do something for me?” I asked him once I was situated. “Oh and you can put your hands down.”

“Sure,” he said with a shrug as he dropped his hands to his sides.

“Ralof’s sister wants me to travel to Whiterun and I’d rather not go alone. I could use a traveling companion...” I told him. I waited for his reaction.

“Hm... Okay. You’d need someone to watch you anyway, kitten. Yes, Khajiit will accompany you,” Caecus said.

“Great!” I exclaimed “Thank you! Oh— we’ll need supplies, since she said it’s a pretty far walk through the forest. We might run into trouble or something.”

Caecus then chimed in, “The blacksmith mentioned there’s a Trader in town. We could get supplies there.”

“Oh right, the Riverwood Trader. Almost forgot about that place— I hope Lucan doesn’t make me get that dumb claw as soon I walk in,” I said aloud unintentionally. It was due to how annoying I found the golden claw quest. 

“You’ve… been there before? Or is this another oracle vision?” Caecus asked in a confused tone from my words.

I groaned to myself. I can’t keep slipping up about how much I know. I let out a long sigh. “You could say that. I know of the trader. He’s going to mention a break in occurred, once we’re in his shop. He had a golden trinket stolen. It’s shaped like the claw of a dragon,” I said to him.

“Oh? Well I’m sure it won’t be hard to find,” Caecus says to me. “I’m sure he’d offer some coin in return for our ‘generous’ help, yes?” The cat-man asked with a chuckle. Of course he’d want the reward money.

“Heh… we’ll see when we get there,” I reply. “Hey grab my bag for me?” I asked afterwards. And he did so. I carried my phone in my hand as I exited the room.

Caecus followed me down the hall. I stuffed my phone into my pocket so as not to draw attention to myself once around we’re around people. We went to the main area of the inn. I thanked the innkeep for letting us stay here. As we were walking to the exit, I felt like I was being watched. I turned my head for a moment and my gaze went to the high elf lady who’d been watching us with a curious expression. I remember that Altmer being a hassle to deal with in game, even though I didn’t bother to remember her name. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with her while I’m here.

Once we were outside I started walking towards the Riverwood Trader shop. Thankfully the landmarks of the village are roughly in the same spot as they were in the game. I approached the door, my eyes drifting over it’s slightly splintery appearance. From the other side I could hear in a gruff voice a phrase that I always remembered from the early parts of the game. 

“No theatrics, no thief chasing!”

I pushed open the door and was now looking at the source of the shouting. The shopkeeper— Lucan, if I recall, and his sister Camilla, were arguing at the shop counter. They apparently hadn’t noticed me and Caecus had walked in.

Camilla was fussing at Lucan, her voice raised. "Well what are you going to do then, huh? Let's hear it!" She demanded. She was fed up, clearly.

"We are done talking about this!” Lucan responded with a stern tone of voice. Camilla sighed in defeat and sat down in a chair. After the loud words were over, I cleared my throat. It was then that Lucan finally noticed me and my beastly companion. He looked at us with shock before relaxing his body. “Oh! Customers…” he said before clearing his throat. “Welcome to the Riverwood Trader.” He sighed softly. “Sorry you had to hear that,” he said in reference to the short argument with his sister.

“What can I do for you two?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/8
> 
> minor edit: fixed details about cae's blindness


	11. Riverwood Trader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick stop for supplies and quest information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter

When Lucan asked what he could do for us, I had to think for a moment. I had no clue what I’d actually need to take from here for the trip to Whiterun. Also if I’d also have to go to that barrow on the mountain, I’d need even more stuff. This was more complicated than I first thought.

“Well... My, um...” I started to say, glancing over at Caecus before looking back at Lucan, “—escort and I need supplies for travel. We have to get to Whiterun and I know it can take a long time to get there. I want to be prepared in case anything happens on the trip.”

Lucan nodded his head slightly with a slight chuckle. “Ah, travelers eh? We don’t get many here. I’m sure there’s some stuff here you’d find useful.”

“This one thanks you,” Caecus said as he plopped my bag down on the floor. My backpack hit the wooden floor with a faint thud. My Khajiit companion leaned on the counter, his head turned towards Lucan, to seem as if he’s actually looking at him.

“We’ll be needing some food, perhaps a blade... extra clothes for my lady friend—“ Caecus said before pausing, “and what was it you and the other one were fussing about before we came in? It was loud. Khajiit heard you from outside.”

Lucan gave an awkward chuckle. “Yes, well.. we had a bit of a... break-in. And I was just telling my dear sister that there’s no use running after the thieves that’d stolen from us last night—“ he said. This prompted Camilla to stomp upstairs to her room. He sighed and rolled his eyes at his sister’s mood. He then resumed talking, after offering us an apologetic smile. “But we still have plenty to sell. Don’t worry! It’s nothing that will keep you two from leaving.” He said as he looked through the cabinets and such in the shop as he gathered supplies, walking and talking at the same time. 

Lucan then held out a leather dress he found in a cabinet. “Here’s something for the lass to where.. I’m sure she’d be more comfortable in it than.... that,” Lucan said with a gesture at my clothing. I looked at my dirty hiking clothes and then at the clothes he handed Caecus. I shrugged and took the clothing from him.

It was far too long for me. Curse my short legs. I must’ve had a displeased expression because he offered an apology rather fast. “—We don’t get many girls travelers often so there isn’t much range in the attire. I’m sure it will suffice until you get to the city though.”

“Yeah... sure,” I mumbled under my breath.

Caecus tried to steer the convo back toward what my so called vision had entailed. “You mentioned a break in. What was it the thieves took?” This got Lucan to finally mention the side quest I knew all too well. “Robbers were only after one thing. An ornament, solid gold. In the shape of a dragon's claw." He said.

“We— I could get the claw for you,” Caecus said. “For a price.” Lucan squinted slightly at the Khajiit with an expression like he was going to say something rude.

Lucan seemed momentarily pleased by Cae’s acceptance of the errand. “You could? Of course, of course....” he said before muttering, “takes a thief to catch one, eh?” He cleared his throat and spoke up. “I've got some coin coming in from my last shipment. It's yours if you bring my claw back. If you're going after those thieves, you should head to Bleak Falls Barrow, northeast of town."

While they were busy talking, I had put the dress on over my hiking clothes and then wiggled my shirt off afterwards. It wasn’t very comfortable at the moment. The chest part was tight. I rubbed the sides of the dress absentmindedly, huffing at seeing the leather garnet drag on the floor from the extra length it had. I grumbled quietly. The dumb dress was simultaneously too tight and too long. I needed the stupid thing to fit properly.

Suddenly my hands acquired a faint glow, which crept from my fingertips into the dress itself. The dress then began to shrink in length and loosen in the bust to fit me better. I felt a bit shocked by what happened. I looked in a mirror that was leaning against a wall. The dress was fitted to my size perfectly now.

“Whoa,” I whispered to myself. Did I do that? How— Holy shit, I can do magic?? Sweet!

Lucan finished gathering supplies and had been chatting with Caecus for a little while at this point. I’d tuned out most of what they were saying while I was fiddling with my clothes.

It seems we’d acquired a small collection of cheap weapons, potions and food. The shopkeep let out a small grunt and stretched before looking at Caecus across the counter. “That should be everything you needed, right? And I’m sorry again about that dr—“ his words cut short. I saw that the Imperial had looked my way and was startled by my suddenly tailored dress.

I turned to face the men and gave a nervous chuckle. “Heh... I wanted it to fit. This doesn’t change the price right?” I asked, trying to not look surprised at what I’d done my self.

Lucan was watching me in shock   
“.......Uh... No, no, the price stays the same— Sorry for staring. We just don’t get mages around here. I take it you’ll be seeing about something magic related in Whiterun? I think I recall hearing the Jarl has a wizard in his court.”

“Something like that,” I said, nodding my head. I wasn’t sure what to say. But hey, I’m not totally lying. 

“Thanks for the supplies. We appreciate it,” I said as I reached in my bag and drew my hand back, a couple shiny gold septims now in my palm. After we finished the purchase, Camilla was coming back downstairs. Caecus and I were trying to leave. 

“Good luck on your trip, and let me know if you find my claw,” Lucan said as he waved us off. His dear sister, Camilla, was not too pleased by this turn of events.

“So, this is your plan, Lucan? Sending strangers to fetch your claw?” The fussy Imperial woman inquired of her brother. “Yes, and now you don't have to go, do you?" He replied with a smug look, before she offered one of her own.

“Oh really?” Camilla asked, “Well, I think your new helper here needs a guide,” she said.

Lucan frowned and huffed in defeat. Camilla was determined to go against her brother. "Wh...no...I...Oh, by the Eight, fine! But only to the edge of town! They’re on their own from there and you come straight back here.”

“Of course, of course, Lucan. I won’t go too far,” she said. She then turned to look at Caecus, apparently ignoring me. “Are you ready then, stranger?” She asked with a smile as she touched his arm.

I cleared my throat roughly. Did she really forget that I’m standing here? I rolled my eyes as I pushed the supplies into my pack.

“I’m going with him. I’m not being anywhere without my bodyguard,” I said firmly.

Camilla chuckled awkwardly. “If you say so... but it’s such a dangerous place, the Barrow.”

“Which is why I will be protecting her,” Caecus chimed in. “I’d never let her get harmed on my watch.”

It was Camilla’s turned to feel defeated. No alone time for her.

Camilla’s face contorted slightly, clearly displeased at not being able to be alone with the Khajiit.  
“Oh all right... are you _both_ ready?” She asked with slight annoyance in her voice.

“Yes, we’re ready” I said as I hauled my pack onto my back. 

And thus our new ‘guide’ ushered us out of the shop. Camilla led me and Caecus out of the shop and through the streets of Riverwood. She took us to the edge of town, which let out into a dirt path into nature. 

“This is as far as I go. Goodbye. I guess I’ll be seeing you two again if you find the claw,” she said before pausing and rolling her eyes. “I doubt you two will. Whoever took it could be long gone.... But regardless, I feel like we’ll meet again. So, until next time.” And with that, Camilla turned and left us. Now we were alone.

My eyes drifted to the ground following a dirt path, my gaze naturally moving upwards as the path led up the mountainside. I felt a shiver as I tried to mentally prepare for whatever trouble we'll soon get into. 

Bleak Falls Barrow awaits us.


	12. A Bleak Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our beloved traveling companions make the trek up to Bleak Falls Barrow and soon fight their way through a mess of madness

Ch12: Bleak Falls Barrow 

Isi and Caecus began the trek up the side of the mountain, to get to the barrow. The climb was not an easy one. The walk was tiring and tedious. Isi’s legs were sore after about ten minutes of walking. Not to mention soon beginning the assent, the pair encountered a wolf. The trip all around was sucky. Luckily the wolf had made no attempts to fight the two. The same could not be said for others that would be met along the way...

After almost another ten minutes, they would find themselves getting into trouble. About halfway up the mountain path, lay a cracked and decrepit tower, outside of it was posted a guard of some kind. The path snaked very closely to the tower before it veered off to continue upwards. A muscular Nord with a horned helm stood as watchman for the tower, searching for any passerbys. Tall, large and brutish in appearance, he clearly would attack any to dare come near. The grizzled man had yet to notice the incoming duo, but they definitely noticed him.

Isi stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him in the distance. Her body tensed involuntarily from fear. Her mind recalled how stressful and scary her first time in a battle was, when they had to fight their way out of Helgen yesterday. Even then, she didn’t do much defending herself, she had three big men to protect her. It’s just her and Caecus here now. There’s no way she could avoid having to get actively involved in a scuffle.

“Oh great...” she thought, upset at potentially having to fight for real. Her voice was slightly trembling. She knew she wasn’t built for this.

Her tone caused concern in her companion. Caecus bent down and patted his diminutive partner on her head. His soft blue glazed eyes were focused on her brown ones. Although he cannot truly see them, he knew where to focus his ‘view’. He offered a soft smile and some reassuring words, “Don’t worry, I’m sure that we can keep out of trouble. I’ve snuck past worst guys than him. Just stay close to me and I’ll keep you safe. Okay?”

This calmed Isi slightly. She nodded her head in agreement.  
“Okay. I trust you.”

Thus the duo began to sneak by, Caecus at the lead. He waited for the watchman to direct his attention elsewhere. When he was distracted, Cae nudged Isi forward and crept behind some rocks with her. It offered fair cover from sight. Once they got around a corner and eventually out of the sight of the man, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

They continued to walk higher and farther, the path growing steeper and the air becoming colder. Nearing the top of the mountain, snow lay on the ground muffling their footsteps. Neither of them was pleased at the dip in temperature. Isi shivered and huffed as she mumbled swears in regards her ‘stupid dress’ being unable to fight back the chill. The Khajiit on the other hand was mentally complaining about frozen paws. Both of them stopped their whining eventually, which was good.

Isi saw Bleak Falls Barrow just ahead of them, its large and imposing form sent a shiver down her spine unlike that caused by the ‘glorious’ Skyrim weather. The spires and ancient architecture of the building was oddly beautiful to her. She could feel the energy of the building. She then thought of all the souls that lay resting within its halls. It is basically a big mausoleum after all... and they have to go in there. Such a bad time for her to have jitters. She quickly shook them off though. They continued closer, Isi taking time to look around very cautiously. She felt relieved at there being no thugs up here, unlike the mission from the game. Indeed it was just the two of them on this stretch of space for now. 

Isi found herself looking out at the world. She could see so much from up here, though the view somewhat obscured by snowy winds. It made her feel so small, yet also gave her a pang of wonder. This really is a whole and huge world before her. She’ll see so much, do and discover so many incredible things. Maybe it’s just the thinner air up here but the view from this mountain made her feel amazing. 

But that’s enough twinkly eyed awe for now because her toes are freezing. She ran towards the door of the Barrow, Caecus followed suit to run inside with her.

Out of the cold and into the dark... 

Now the mission really begins.

Once inside of the barrow, the room was rather dark. The ground was uneven and a bit hard to walk on. The air was stale and a bit musty, But it was better than being outside in the cold. The only light in the room was at the very end of the hall, coming from a fire lit by two bandits. They were talking to each other about treasure or some such thing. They were completely unaware of the intruders, who tiptoed passed them. 

‘Huh, maybe I can just sneak around the whole time instead of fighting,’ Isi thought to herself in a hopeful manner. 

Isi and her feline friend continued deeper into the vast barrow. Soon they entered a puzzle room.

A bandit was ahead of them and was unaware of there presence. He was trying to get through the door. He flipped the lever in the center of the room. Suddenly a barrage of poisonous darts were fired at him due to a booby trap. His body crumpled and he lay dying on the floor. 

Isi awkwardly made her way further into the room with Caecus following behind her. He shook his head as he nudged the dying man with his foot.   
“Poor bastard,” he muttered. He turned his head toward his companion. He paused and then inquired, “What happened to that one will not happen to us, yes?”

Isi replied with a nod. “We’ll be fine. He just did the puzzle wrong.” She began to explain, “the stones over here need to be turned a certain way. Came help me,” she said as she began the task of turning the heavy stones.

Caecus came over to assist quickly, following his friend’s instructions as she then told him what the correct order was. He then had to drag the now-dead man’s body into a corner before flipping the lever. His ears twitched as he heard the metal door give way. He began to walk towards the door but stopped and turned heel.   
He couldn’t resist temptation and scurried over to the corpse and robbed it.

His friend was not pleased at the action, seeing as he literally died not even ten minutes ago. His justification for such actions was that they could always use some extra loot, and also that this dead man would not have any use for his belongings now. This earned groans of irritation followed by a huff of disgruntled agreement from the girl. ‘At least Cae wasn’t so rude as to take the man’s clothes,’ she thought to herself as memories of how often she would press [take all] when she played the game.

Isi let out a sigh as they walked. The rest of the way was easy, since there luckily weren’t any rats around to bother them. She took the time to mentally acclimate herself to the idea of robbing corpses, and being around dead people in general. She felt less paranoid as time passed. Eventually she came to the acceptance that whether she likes it or not, this is her world now as she must learn to be brave— Her fears were not completely gone however, because when she entered the next room she found before her a giant spider. She still hated and was terrified by these things. Fuck spiders.

The gargantuan arachnid had its back turned to her. Chewing could be heard. Its large chelicerae clicked as it gnawed away at some unseen prey, producing a sickly sound that made her stomachs do somersaults...

The spider was blocking the way through the room. There was no way to avoid confrontation now. The only way through is to kill this bug.

Caecus knew Isi was scared and went to confront the spider himself. He was crouched as he grew closer to the spider. He drew a sword from his hip. He’d just purchased it from the trader, and it was newly made. Surely this would hold its own against this beast, yes? —— It would seem the answer was no, because when he slashed at the seemingly distracted arachnid, it turned around and hissed at him, kicking him with its large and spindly legs. Cae didn’t give up though, he kept fighting with it. It soon began to win though. He found himself being pinned down by the spider’s legs. 

Isi was terrified. Her friend was in trouble. She desperately felt in her bag for anything useful. Once she felt something in her grasp, she withdrew her hand and prepared to fight. She looked to see what she held and found herself looking at her gun. She almost groaned. She was not fond of this thing. She had to do something though and this was better than nothing. She mustered up courage and aimed her weapon at the arachnid. She did not notice her trembling fingers glowing a fiery hue. She was caught off guard as she discharged the gun. A loud bang escaped the gun as it fired. Isi now beheld a red hot bullet fly from her gun and bury itself into the flesh of this beast. The bug’s body became covered in a mystical pattern and burst into flames within a matter of seconds. A deafening screech filled the air as the bug stumbled and fell as it died. The putrid aroma of charred insect permeated the room now. But hey, Cae was saved now!

Isi ran over to Caecus and hugged him. “Oh my God!” She exclaimed, “I saved you!” Her words made the Khajiit laugh in a surprised yet glad manner. “It would seem so. Thank you, Kitt— I mean, Thanks, Isi. Heh... This one was in over his head, as it were,” he admitted sheepishly.

She giggled and patted his side reassuringly. “Hey don’t worry about it, we have to look out for each other. I help you and you help me,” she said. Hoorah for teamwork.

“It helps that this one has used magic,” Cae said as he poked Isi’s nose in with an expression that read ‘don’t get ahead of yourself.’ He got up and stretched, grunting slightly. “Let’s get going. It smells awful in here.” Isi nodded in agreement headed through the doorway, awkwardly stepping over the body the spider had been chewing on previously. She recognized it as Arvel, the dark elf that had the golden claw. She felt sick seeing his mangled corpse, but felt partly relieved at not having to chase him down or anything. She reached down and took a satchel she saw beside his body. In it, she found the Golden Claw.

She held up the surprisingly heavy claw and put it in her companion’s hand. “Cae, this is the golden claw. We’ve got it— but we need to keep going forward. There’s treasures further in here. Plus... something very important, that we’ll need eventually.” Caecus nodded softly as he rubbed his other hand over the claw. Isi watched him in interest at his examination of all the details and etchings of the object. There was something oddly appealing about how the blind look at things. He soon responded to her. 

“Treasures more grand than what we’ll get for this? Heh, I’d be a fool not to listen to you,” he said with a smirk. He then handed the claw back to her. She stuffed it into her bag and then ventured forth. There was a stretch of barren rooms before the vast crypt opened to them. 

Isi’s footsteps slowed as she walked through the room. The walls lined with the dead gave her the willies, that and the fact that some of the dead may wake up at any moment. Her breath was shaky which caused Caecus to inquire what was wrong. She then explained the predicament they were in. He let out a quiet sound of understanding. He admitted he wasn’t fond of corpses either.

For a moment it seemed they were safe, until the sound of rattling bones startled them both. A draugr crept out of its bed behind them and loomed over them. Isi’s eyes practically popped out of her head as she stared up at the Nordic zombie. Its decayed yet lively form brought memories of apocalypse movies to her mind. It was then when something clicked within her. She loved zombie games back in her own world. She could totally do this here, she thought. As if on instinct, she suddenly swung at the towering draugr. She was surprised at herself because she remembered she didn’t have a blade or anything in her hand. But sure enough, when she swung she saw she suddenly held an axe that they’d got at the shop. She managed to chop the draugr in the neck. It stumbled back, groaning. While it was staggered, Caecus took opportunity to rush the draugr. He growled at he slashed at its face and chest. It was at this point Isi first really paid attention to Cae’s claws. The long white claws looked like miniature daggers as he went ham on the undead fiend. Once it stopped moving, he took off, full sprint through the room. Isi took up to see that he was running straight at the other draugrs that were shambling out of their beds and approaching them.

She joined in, a sudden rush of adrenaline in her blood as she watched Cae tearing through the draugr. If a blind cat can fight so ferociously then what excuse does she have for not doing so? She helped fight them off, flailing her axe rather haphazardly in her untrained hands. She chopped at their legs to bring them down. After the first few it became apparent that it was actually rather easy to fight off these undead. Hell, this was actually... fun!

Soon the crazed couple tore through several rooms of undead nords. Once the ash and dust ceased, they began to calm down. As the adrenaline rush slowly subsided, Isi was giggling like she’d gone mad. 

“Heh... eh heh, heh ha!— **_HEURGH_** ” She said as she abruptly threw up. Her little body was having a major delayed response to the previous carnage they wrought. She coughed and gasped before regaining her breath. “Holy hell, that was— Wow! I can’t believe we did that. Did you see?? We were all, like, hyah! And argh! And boosh! We fucked shit up!” She said in an excited yet wheezy tone as she celebrated their victory over the draugr. She continued to wheeze and cough, which began to concern Caecus. 

“....Are you alright?” He asked. He soon became shocked as Isi collapsed on the ground, her glasses cracking as her face connected with the stone floor. “— Isi?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter 
> 
> As always, feedback is appreciated 
> 
> Stay tuned for more of our misadventures ;)


	13. Vulnerabilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isi awakens to a very worried face

Isi’s head was swimming. Her mind was a muddled mess. She recalled feeling heavy in her chest and then...nothing. She was just lost and everything was dark. Soon a voice entered her ears— Caecus was calling her. 

“Isi! ISI!—“ The Khajiit called out frantically as he shook his downed companion. Slowly her eyes began to flutter open.

“Huh?” She asked in a confused tone. She then emitted a surprised squeak as she had awoken to find herself being cradled by a very worried Caecus. His fuzzy face was wet from crying, faint creases in his fur caused by his tears. The 7ft beastman had her cradled in his grasp. Her measly 4ft10 form felt even more dwarfed in such close contact with him. She felt small, like a toddler in his strong arms.

“Wh— uh...” was all she could say as she was too confused and flustered to think. “What happened?”

“You’re awake!” He exclaimed as he heard her voice. He then stood up fast and hugged her tightly. She let out a small grunt.  
“Ow...”

“Sorry,” he said as he sniffled and wiped his face. “You collapsed after we fought the dead. I was worried you were joining them, kitten,” he said with a pat to her head, his fluffy fingertips lightly ruffling her wavy, curly hair.

“I’m not dying,” she said with a half chuckle. She looked at him with a mildly flustered expression still. She felt glad he couldn’t see how red she must be right now. He was still holding her. “Can you, um, put me down now?” She asked as she squirmed in his hold. He promptly did so while giving a quick apology for hoisting her like that.

Once on the ground, she coughed once and sighed. She remembers having chest pain before everything went black. She knew what must’ve happened to her now.

“I have asthma. I must’ve overworked myself. I’m really sorry for scaring you. Sorry, sorry,” she said, waving the issue off. She wincing at herself for it, mentally. She had terrible asthma as a child and had asthma attacks often. They were less frequent as she grew older but she _did_ just do a lot of strenuous activity after all...

“Ass-ma?” Caecus asked in a confused tone, a perplexed and mildly tickled expression as he tried to say the foreign word.

That horrible pronunciation earned a snort of laughter from the girl. “No— Asthma. It’s a.. sickness. Makes my lungs weak,” she explained. “Plus I have a bad heart too and—“ she trailed off. She paused in thought. She just dropped like a fly in her fight real fight. How in the hell is she supposed to fight anything worse than a draugr? Let alone an entire damn dragon?...

“Oh... well, maybe we can find a healer to treat your sickness, one we get to the city?” Caecus inquired. “I’m glad you’re better now though.”

“Maybe... but yeah, I’m feeling a lot better now.” Isi said.  
Her gaze wandered as she stopped talking. She hadn’t paid attention to just how far they’d gotten during her zombie killing blur. They were in the hall that held the puzzle door. Her eyes widened slightly at the fact. No time to focus on how nuts they’d went earlier. She felt for her bag but did not find it. She looked around in a mild panic before finding it laid on the floor.

She went over to pick it up but Caecus stopped her. “Wait,” he said.

“You shouldn’t carry such a big bag, I don’t think,” he said to her. She could tell he was still a bit worried about her. “You should charm it to be smaller.”

She looked confused by his words. “Uh... how? I don’t... know how to do magic— er, not like that anyway,” she admitted.

“Oh that’s easy,” he said. He took the backpack in his hands and began to explain what to do. “Haven bags are crafted to be collapsible. You just focus on making it be small and—“ he paused as he squished the bag in his hand. Suddenly it went from a hiker’s bag to the size of a small satchel. “See? Easy. I learned to do that years ago.”

Magic sure is convenient at times, Isi thought to herself. She teclaimed her bag and tied it to her hip. It was nice and secure now. But now it’s going to be tricky to retrieve things easy... She huffed as she thought of her apparent issue. She needed a weapon, and not her gun. If only she knew how she’d summoned her axe before. It seemed her issue would be resolved soon. She jolted slightly as her palm tingled abruptly. She looked at her hand, her veins beginning to glow brightly. Suddenly the axe she had previously landed in her grasp out of thin air. She looked at the axe in shock. 

“Magic is so damn weird,” she muttered as she pinched her brow with her free hand. It’s still difficult to figure things out without an instruction manual on magic or anything. But no matter, she’s armed and that’s all that matters. As she pinched her brow, she realized something was missing from her face.  
“—where’s my glasses?”

“Oh,” Cae remarked, “these?” He asked as he held up a pair of broken eye glasses. “You broke your spectacles when you fell.”

“Damn ittt,” Isi whined as she took them in her hand. She sighed and put them back on her face. The lens was cracked on one side and the frame was bent. She pouted and grumbled.

“It’s okay. I’ll find some way to fix them later,” she said. She just has to have wonky specs right now.

She walked down the hall with her axe. At the end of the hall lay the puzzle door which led into the next chamber. She put her weapon down and then attempted to summon the golden claw. It took a big longer than when she made the axe appear, but eventually the claw appeared in her hands. She grunted quietly as she held it. The claw was damn heavy, like five pounds of gold. She made quick work of handing it to her friend.  
“Hold that, we need it to get through here,” she instructed. 

Caecus stood there awkwardly as he held the claw. His ears twitched from the noises his diminutive partner made. His ghostly and glossy gaze was fixated on her. He watched the faint outline of her moving in his broken sight. Isi was on her toes as she fiddled with the large stone puzzle door, sliding the rings with her hands. Eventually she got the rings aligned.

“Okay, Cae, put the claw in the groove there. It’ll open up the door, once it starts to drop, just take the claw back out,” she instructed. He did as told and stuck the golden claw into the appropriate spot on the wall. 

The stone blockade slowly gave way and slid downward. After getting enough space, Caecus removed the claw. Now the path was opened. The two ventured forth into the next room. Light poured into the room from cracks in the ceiling, illuminating a sarcophagus at the opposite end of the area. Isi took the lead, walking ahead of Cae, taking in the sight of this place. She tensed ever so slightly as they made their way up the stone steps. The coffin that she knew held the ‘boss,’ was a few feet away. She hoped the fight with be an easy one. Her train of thought was interrupted when she noticed Cae had left her side. She turned her head to see what he was doing. The Khajiit blindly stared at the huge word wall in the room. He squinted his eyes slightly as his brow furrowed, his ears twitching as if he was listening for something. He motioned for her to come near.

“Isi... this one is not imagining things, right?.. I hear whispers coming from this wall,” he said to her. That peaked her interest while also rattling her core. She walked over and sure enough, she began to hear whispers of chants. She didn’t answer him. Her feet seemed to move on their own as she approached the wall and extended her hand. He followed suit, and they both touched the wall, their fingers brushing against each other as they rubbed over the sharp etched engraving. Suddenly, the whispering grew louder and the word began to glow. A voice within their heads said loudly and clearly a word that the smaller of the pair knew all too well— *Fus.* And with that word hitting their ears, the glow of the etching began sending a trail of magical energy through the both of them. It was a shock. And the two looked staggered as they withdrew their hands. 

“What... was that?” Cae asked in confusion as he rubbed his hand. He was amazed and perplexed by whatever powerful magic that was.

The equally dumbfounded girl didn’t have time to respond, because they duo had a major problem to deal with. While they were distracted by whispering walls, the draugr overlord had woken from his eternal slumber and was primed to fight. The draugr drew his sword and prepared to swing at Isi while she was distracted.

Caecus finally noticed the undead fiend and abruptly tackled Isi, pulling her out of harm’s way. The draugr’s sword clashed against the floor from the missed attack. He held her tightly, shielding her as the draugr swung again, hitting Cae in the back.

Isi could not help but feel bad. She was ashamed at being so helpless at times. He shouldn’t have to gethurt protecting her, she felt. There is no time for self pity at the moment. Now is a time for action. Once the draugr gave space, Cae released Isi. He swung at the draugr quickly to catch it off guard. He chopped its leg. As it staggered, the pair prepared for a real fight. They both attacked the undead beast, while both of them were feeling panicked as well. They worked together, a sword and axe in hand respectively. Neither of them remained unscathed unfortunately, earning gashes and cuts from the monster. The fight took longer than it did with all the previous draugr, but eventually they won. Cae chopped the nordic zombie’s head clean off, sending it bouncing onto the ground.

Once the fight was over, both the cat and the girl crumbled to their knees, feeling weak.

“That was awful,” Isi said with a loud huff. She had a cut on her arm which was bleeding but not hurting too much, to which she chalked up to adrenaline.

Cae nodded his head in agreement. He dug it his bag and retrieved two red potion bottles, tossing one to his companion.  
“At least we’re alive. Now drink.”

Isi hesitantly gulped down the elixir. Thankfully it was not as bad tasting as the potion he’d given her when they were in Helgen. This one actually tasted faintly of strawberries. Once they both drank their fill, their injuries began to heal themselves.

After feeling fully recovered, the pair decided to find the “treasure” that lay in the room. Caecus dug through a large chest and found a lot of coin and trinkets. Meanwhile Isi searches the draugr’s now-empty coffin. Inside of it was a large stone map. She knew exactly what it was.... the Dragonstone. 

She tried to lift it out of the coffin but was unable to. The thing was damned heavy! It weighed more than the claw did, for sure. Thankfully she had a big strong Khajiit to lift it for her. Cae did inquire what the heavy object was, but Isi wasn’t sure what to tell him. She only explained it would be useful once they reach Whiterun. He seemed satisfied with the answer as he did not press further. He simply hid it away in his own bag. He then followed his little friend outside, through a cave exit.

Now that they’ve cleared Bleak Falls Barrow and made it out alive, they just have to make the walk back down the mountain. Great...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading


	14. Whiterun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a lot of walking and hassle, the message finally makes its way to the Jarl of Whiterun

The trek back down the mountainside was far easier than it was to get up it. The pair had little trouble, leaving through a secret exit of the Barrow. This was good because they didn’t have to deal with any bandits or anything now. Soon they returned to Riverwood. They were more battered than when they had left thanks to trouble they had inside the barrow. 

Once arriving at the Riverwood Trader, the golden claw was promptly slammed onto the wooden countertop. The heavy trinket rattled the counter slightly.

“Here’s your claw,” Caecus said in a somewhat huffy voice, tired from all the walking and almost dying.

Lucan looked at the claw amazed that we actually found it. “There it is!— You found it! Strange…,” he said before mumbling, “I remembered it being bigger.”

This earned him an irritated growl from the Khajiit.

“Kidding, kidding!” Lucan exclaimed defensively. “You did a great thing for me and my sister. Here’s your pay,” he said. He then paused as he looked over the two adventurers, seeing how banged up they looked. “Actually... Since I put you through so much trouble, I can give you more,” he replied with a slight chuckle and twinge of guilt in his face. Not that he cared about the cat, but seeing the girl was just as scuffed up struck his heartstrings slightly. 

Thus Lucan handing over a good sized sack of coins. It was a coin purse filled with 700 gold pieces.

“Thank you,” Isi said quietly before tugging at her companion’s arm. “Come on. We still have to get to Whiterun before the day’s over.”

Cae grunted in agreement. He tucked the coin purse into his pocket and then walked out of the store with his little friend.

Now off they were, on the road again.

It was a long walk, but the two eventually made their way into the Whiterun Hold. Distances always seem so much shorter in a game… The sun was well into the afternoon but not quite setting.Our adventurous duo walked for at least an hour or two by now. The little one had gotten tired and was now being carried on the other’s back. All of their monotonous movements would be rewarded soon, because as the pair came over a hill, the large city of Whiterun was now visible to them. They were almost there.

They decided to take a breath in a nearby farm. They sat down some discarded hay bales while they caught their breath and relaxed their legs. They also drank some water as they enjoyed the moment’s rest.

“Not far now, yes?” Cae asked Isi, who sat next to him. “We go into the city and… then what, again?” He inquired, trying to make conversation.

“We’ve got to talk to the Jarl. He runs things. He’ll help out Riverwood for sure. And then after that, I’ll need to talk to his court wizard. That’s the guy we’re gonna give the big rock to. Ya know, that we found in the barrow?”

Cae nodded his head lazily. “Okay. This one was just asking, since _you_ seem to be the one in charge of our little adventure,” he said to Isi with a chuckle as he ruffled a hand through her hair. He sighed as he thought to himself. He didn’t really question her lead at all. He just felt in his gut that she knew exactly what she was doing. It doesn’t matter to him that she isn’t good at defending herself. He likes looking after her.

His fond thoughts were jolted away as the ground suddenly began to shake slightly. A concerned expression spread over his face.  
“....Kitten, why does the ground shake?” He asked. “This one doesn’t like it. Makes it hard to concentrate.”

“Huh? I don’t know why. Maybe it’s an earthqua—“ Isi had began to respond, but her words were cut short as she caught sight of something. A gargantuan beast was stomping towards the farm. A giant…

“Ah, shit.”

Break time’s over now, apparently. Isi grabbed hold of Cae and started to run. Cae was a faster runner though and unintentionally left poor Isi in his dust. He’d gotten back on the road already when he noticed she was gone. She tried to take a short cut by hopping over a fence but tumbled into the cow pen instead. She looked in shock as the giant was headed right at her. The Goliath of a man-thing soon snatched up the cow, apparently wanting to steal it. The giant looked down at Isi quizzically, as she was currently scrambling out of the cow pen and picked her up as well, holding her by her leg.

“Whoa, whoa, AH! What the hell?! Put me down!!” Isi screamed as she flailed. She didn’t know what to do. What did this thing want with her? 

She was surprised when the giant simply sat her down on the ground on the road. The giant then pasted her on the head, which knocked her onto her bum. She could swear she hear him laugh. She looked up at the giant, tilting her head as she looked at its face.

“Thank you?” She said awkwardly. And to think she was worried a moment ago. Maybe giants aren’t actually bad? It just wanted some food, not her.

The giant was starting to walk off, carrying the cow it stole from the farm, when Isi suddenly saw a barrage of arrows hitting the Goliath’s back. This made the giant mad. He threw down the cow and roared at whoever attacked him. Isi turned her head around to see who did that.

She found herself looking at a group of Nords in fur armor attacking the giant. A red haired woman was firing arrows while two men were rushing at the giant with swords.  
The Companions?

Isi felt like she should intervene or something. The giant just wanted food… There wasn’t much she could do though. She just covered her face so she wouldn’t have to watch the battle. 

Soon, with one last guttural roar of a noise, the giant was felled. Its humongous body came crashing onto the ground, not far in front of where Isi was.

“Well, that’s taken care of— no thanks to you,” the red-haired nord woman said. Aela the huntress was her name, and she stared down the ‘useless’ girl in front of her.

“Give me a break… I’m just passing through,” Isi groaned. “Plus he wasn’t hurting anybody.” She was in no mood nor emotionally ready to deal with the Companions right now.

Aela looked down at Isi with a slight frown before her face grew stern. “Are you dense, girl? Not hurting anyone?? We saw that beast snatch you and throw you on the ground. Not to mention it was stealing livestock. Tch…” Her shield-brothers grunted and nodded in agreement.

Isi huffed and folded her arms, annoyed at the woman’s scolding. “He didn’t throw me, ya nitwits!” She shouted, earning slightly surprised looks from the Nord men. “He picked me up because I was stuck in the cow pen. Then he sat me down on the road. I fell over because he tried to pet my head. So as I said. Nobody got hurt—“ she paused and looked over at the cow that the giant had stolen, which was crushed from being thrown onto the ground, “... aside from that cow. Which the giant was only stealing for food. Giants gotta eat too,” she said defensively.

“Oh…” was all that Aela had to say. Then one of the twin Nord men had spoken up. “Yeah well, those giants always steal from us and cause trouble, so I say we did good regardless.” His brother nodded in agreement.

“Ughhhhhhh” groaned Isi, “I don’t have time to debate with you meat-heads.” She just started to walk off. She saw Caecus up the road and was going to go catch up with him. That is, until she got abruptly lifted up by the back of her dress like a wet dog. “Hey!”

It was one of the twins. She grumbled and kicked her legs. She heard chuckling, giving her a quick bout of deja vu. 

“Put me DOWN, damn it!” She said roughly. 

“Spunky, I like that,” said her current ‘captor’. The man’s brother went in front of Isi and tilted his head as he looked at her. She felt the one who now looked her in the eye was Farkas, but she couldn’t be sure. “Where is a welp like you headed anyway? I’ve never seen you around and you look way too soft to be traveling alone,” he said to her.

“I have business to attend to with Jarl Balgruuf. And I’m not alone. I have an escort,” Isi explained. She then quickly glanced around for the aforementioned escort. She saw him up ahead on the road, distracted by a Khajiit caravan that was camped behind some rocks. Figures she gets into trouble the second he stops paying attention to her...

“Well…” The Nord said, “maybe you and your “escort” could stop by Jorrvaskr after you meet with the Jarl? I’m sure the others would get a kick out of having a fiesty pup like you around. And I’m curious to get to know what man has to watch you all day.” He then let her go and gave her a little shove as he sent her back on the road.

“Whatever,” Isi grunted before walking again.She muttered to herself as she left the Companions be. “I wouldn’t wanna deal with werewolves.” She didn’t think that she’d be heard. But she was.

Aela and her companions, Vilkas and Farkas exchanged looks. Did that strange girl really just say that? There’s no way she could possibly know their secret… right? 

“Keep an eye on that girl, you two. She knows more than she lets on,” Aela told them. She glared slightly at Isi as she left out of sight.

Isi was unaware of her slip-up though. She was focused solely and retrieved her cat man. She went over to the nook in the rocks where the Khajiit caravan was. She looked annoyed as she walked over. Her mood shifted as she saw the other Khajiits though. She felt oddly flustered. It was her first time seeing any Khajiit besides Caecus so it was odd for her. She got over it quickly though and made her way to Cae who had now gotten into a seller’s tent. She tugged his tail and groaned in annoyance at her partner.

“Let’s goooooo, Cae. I wanna get the damn message to the Jarl before the sun goes down,” she said in a huffy tone. 

Cae rushed to get back out of the tent and swatted at Isi for the rude assault of his body. He then started to head to the city gate with Isi. 

“Why weren’t you watching me? I got manhandled by a giant and some big Nords,” she asked with a pout.

Caecus then told her that he didn’t get close to the giant because the stomping it caused made him dizzy and he couldn’t ‘see’ what was happening. This made Isi feel concerned. She thought that Cae could be in control of his magic sight 24/7 but apparently he does have weaknesses with it. She felt glad the giant was nice because she couldn’t bare thinking what might have happened if the giant had attacked her.

She didn’t have any more time to think though, because she was cut off in her tracks by city guards.

“Halt!” A guard said as he blocked the gate to the city. “The city’s closed with news of dragons about.” He then turned his attention to Caecus. “And you—“ he said as he shoved him in the chest, “Cats aren’t allowed within city walls. Go back to that caravan of yours.” Caecus did not respond well to this. He growled at the guard and held Isi to his hip defensively. “We have business here! We need to see the Jarl. I am not from a caravan and I do NOT call me ‘cat’...”

Isi felt tense. This felt too similar to a run in with a rude cop or something, back in her own land. She cleared her throat and wedged herself between Cae and the guard. “E-excuse my friend. He didn’t mean to yell. But we do have business here. I need to talk to Jarl Balgruuf. Riverwood needs help, and you’ve got to let my friend in, he’s my escort and bodyguard. I know he’s a Khajiit but he’s a good man and you don’t have to worry about him.”

The guard frowned in thought as he looked Cae over, huffing in defeat. “I… suppose just one cat won’t destroy the city. But if he causes any trouble at all, I’m holding you responsible, lass. Now go. If Riverwood needs aid, the Jarl should be told right away.” The guards then unlocked the city gates and opened them. The bustling trade city was now open.

“Thank you,” Isi said as she ran Whiterun with Cae on her arm.  
“You didn’t have to do that,” he muttered.  
“Yes I did,” she rebutted.

The pair started making their way through the city. It was getting late now. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow in the sky and settling shadows upon certain parts of the cityscape. They walked quickly but also took in the sights as they made their way through the city. They stopped in the market when guards kept interrupting their trek. Guards complained about having a Khajiit in the city even if it was for an important task. So the two made a quick stop in one of the shop’s: Belethor’s General Goods. The shopkeeper was hardly better than the guards when it came to reacting to Caecus, but he happily took payment from Isi from a cloak. She’d given him a few gold pieces and in turn received a rather nice cloak for Cae to wear.

Once sufficiently covered enough to stop the gawking, Cae and Isi went back out into the city. After a while they went to the end of the city, and climbed the stairs high on the hill. After Isi spoke to the guards who watched the door, they were allowed in. Now they can finally get their message across. They ventured across the throne room and were now in front of the Jarl, who was currently distracted, conversing with his housecarl and his steward. They hadn’t noticed the intruders until Isi cleared her throat and wedged her way into their view.

“Excuse me. Uh… Balgruuf?” Isi started to ask, before being abruptly met with cold frowns. The Jarl slumped in his seat and looked the girl up and down.

“ _Jarl. Jarl Balgruuf._ You will say my name with respect,” he said sternly. His voice echoed slightly in the large room. It made the otherworlder feel a bit like a kid who’d just done wrong. She was momentarily silent, forgetting to speak. This annoyed the man slightly.  
"Well?... I trust you have something _vitally_ important to tell me. Important enough to interrupt me in the middle of council?”

Isi regained her train of thought. “Oh, yes. Yes. Right. Sorry… Riverwood, um, calls for your aid, Jarl Balgruuf...sir?”

“Riverwood? Aye, I know that town. What sort of aides are needed, and why?”

“Well— I should have started off with this, my apologies. Helgen was destroyed by a terrible beast the other day… A dragon. My friend and I,” she said as she gestured to Caecus, “we were there when it burned everything to the ground. We sought shelter in Riverwood. Gerdur let us stay there in her village for a night but then we were sent off to come to you for help. She’s afraid the dragon may attack there next.”

The housecarl and the steward murmured amongst each other at hearing word of Helgen’s destruction. Apparently word hadn’t gotten Whiterun of its fall yet. In fairness it had only happened two days ago and all.

Jarl Balgruuf mused quietly, stroking his chin before he spoke to the girl again. “By the Gods… a dragon? And Gerdur sent you, you say? Well I know she’s not prone to flights of fancy.” He paused and glanced at the girl’s traveling companion. “And I also know nobody would bring a Khajiit into my city just to carry out a lie. I believe every word you’ve said, girl. You’re both brave for coming here to deliver this news.”

He stood up and approached Isi, bending down slightly to look her in her eyes. “Well done. You sought me out, on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it.” He looked over the girl and glanced at her friend, his an odd look on his face briefly. He chuckled and patted the girl on the arm. “As gratitude for you two coming to deliver this message, to help others even though you yourselves just escaped death… I’m going to forgive whatever trouble it was that could’ve gotten you two sent to the headsmen, and I’ll allow you and your friend to stay in my lovely city for as long as you need to. I know you probably don’t have anywhere else to go. Plus it’s far too dangerous to travel anywhere with dragons being so close in this hold.” He sat back in his seat and dismissed the two adventurers. They could hear him talking with his steward again, about the strength of the city as they left Dragonskeep.

As the duo set foot outside again, the sky was growing darker. 

“It’s getting late, we should go find somewhere to sleep,” Isi told Cae as she held his hand while they walked. “There was an Inn back towards the city entrance. I’m sure they’ve got spare room.” Her companion made an offhand joke about the inn having just one bed, like in riverwood. She chose to ignore it.

Today’s been extremely tiring. All that matter right now is getting some damn sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written almost entirely in one night while I was up, and couldn’t sleep so it may flow a bit oddly 
> 
> But I still feel accomplished with just how long it ended up being  
> I wanted to get a lot out at once


	15. An Interrupted Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finally getting a good sleep in, it seems the duo finds even more trouble within the walls of the city
> 
> At least there’s no real threats around yet?

Our weary adventurers found refuge for the night in the Bannered Mare, a large inn. The place was lively, full of patrons and townspeople who sought either rest, food or drink. Singing could be heard when they heard entered the room. A few people murmured to themselves as they watched the newcomers.

The pair walked up to the counter so they could get some service. “A room,” Isi said as she tried to see over the counter slightly. Curse the architecture which did not favor shorter individuals. The innkeeper, an older woman, looked over the counter and down at Isi with a raised brow. 

“I need a room for me-“ Isi continued before being lifted by Caecus, and plopped onto a bar stool, in attempt to have her seen more clearly. “For me and my friend” she added with an awkward chuckle.

The innkeep looked at the two with mild surprise in her face. This earned slight frowns from the pair for a second. “Oh— sure. It’s one gold per night,” she said as she was looking over the two, “and sorry if I’m staring, I’ve just never seen a Khajiit be allowed in the city.” She directed her attention to Caecus. “Even Ysolda’s little cat friends aren’t let in. I’m just curious what makes you so special.”

Caecus shrugged and flashed a little grin at the woman. “I suppose it’d be my charming voice and good looks?” He joked as he tossed her pay for the room. He shook his head and sighed. “My friend here had business with the Jarl, and I’ve made it my duty to look out for her, so I wasn’t going to just stay outside the gates like some stray.”

The Innkeeper nodded slightly. “Hm. I suppose that’s as good a reason as any. I know most Nords don’t like having anything non-human around, but my friend says your people are good, so I can’t argue. Just don’t shed on anything. You and your lady friend’s room will be upstairs.” The innkeeper then turned away and called for her assistant. “Saadia!”

“Yes ma’am?” A redguard woman asked in response.

“Show these new guests to their rooms.”

“Of course. Right away, Hulda,” she said before gesturing for Isi and Cae to follow her. “This way, please.”

The Redguard woman led them upstairs and to a room. It was a nice room, with a large bed in the center. 

“Enjoy your stay, have pleasant dreams,” Saadia said as she started to walk off. She stopped and turned back to them. “Oh, and we ask all patrons here to not dirty the sheets too bad. Stains are difficult to wash.”

The made the two incredibly flustered. “Wh— We wouldn’t— We are NOT—“ They tried to say, talking over each other.

This earned some laughing from Saadia. “I’m just joking. You two have a good night now.”

After the embarrassing moment subsided, the two went into their room and got ready for bed. The bed was large enough for both to fit in, though they made it a point to stay far apart from each other. Soon they drifted off into a much needed sleep.

The following morning, Caecus has awoken first. He yawned softly, rubbing his eyes, out of habit. He was slightly confused as to the added weight upon his person. When first rising, he was completely in the dark, as it requires full focus to use his magic-sight. He felt around lazily and half gasped in surprise. Isi had apparently rolled onto him over in the night. She was dead asleep, her face pressed into his tiger striped chest. Very carefully, he removed her from his chest and gave her a pillow to cuddle instead. He then exited the room.

He walked slowly into the main room, his ears and whiskers constantly twitching as he tried to get his bearings. He sat down at a table and sighed. The redguard woman, Saadia, noticed his arrival into the room and offered him some drink and food. He politely accepted. While he waited, he focused himself and silently cast his sight spell. He now could ‘see’ what was happening around him. Not many people were in the inn lobby, unlike last night. He didn’t feel so out of place for the being. He happily ate his food, minding his own business, until he heard the front door of the establishment open. He glanced towards the source of the noise. Two Nord men came in, tall and muscular. They had a strange smell that put Caecus on edge. He eavesdropped as the men went to talk to Hulda.

“Have you seen an odd girl come through? Little thing, barely bigger than a child, well fed? I’m looking for her,” one of them asked the innkeeper.

Hulda thankfully wasn’t being a snitch. “I’m sorry Vilkas, I don’t recall seeing any girls like that around here.” The response did not please the twins.

Cae felt tense and grumbled, scraping his claws against the end of the table in irritation. What did those smelly men want with Isi? They must those brutes she said she met when Cae was at the caravan. No matter, they won’t be doing anything to her while he’s on guard.

And then the aforementioned little maiden came into the room. She was groggy from sleep, her hair disheveled. She yawned and stretched before seeing the wolf twins. Vilkas glared at her as did Farkas. It was like being stared down by a wild animal. It startled her slightly.  
“Ah— ....Hi?” She said awkwardly as she saw the pair approach her. Their path was blocked by Caecus, who put himself between him and Isi.

“What exactly does this one need with my friend?” Caecus asked. He tried to seem intimidating, with a frown on his face as he blindly gazed at the man, glaring unfocused daggers.

“Your friend here needs to have a word with the rest of the Companions, fish-breath,” Vilkas said very plainly.

Isi tensed slightly as she stood behind her tall, fuzzy protector. she thought to herself. What did Farkas want with her? Did they know something about her?... She didn’t want anything to do with the Companions. But she can’t just say she won’t go either.

“Okay, just.... let us get dressed?” Isi asked.

“Us?” the twins asked.  
Farkas huffed and frowned. “No flea-bags allowed.”

“Oh please,” Isi said as she rolled her eyes. He had some nerve to be calling anybody that. “Look, I’ll go with you after I’m clean, and I’m bringing my friend with me. I’m not going anywhere alone with some stranger.”

Farkas grunted and huffed. “Fine. Just hurry before I drag you to Jorrvaskr by the scruff of your neck.”

After the mild threat, Isi and Cae retreated into their room again. They returned shortly, all clean and dressed properly. 

“Okay now let’s go. And we better not have trouble out of either of you,” Vilkas said.

And with that, they then were led to Jorrvaskr by the twins. When they entered, Isi was slightly jolted by the roughness of the Companions. They were wrestling with each other, sparring or other such things if they weren’t eating whatever meat was strewn about the long dining table. They were all too distracted to notice the outsiders. The whole place smelled musky, like meat, sweat and faintly of a wet dog. Does nobody else from this town enter here? The damn smell alone is enough to make obvious these guys are inhuman.

“Keep moving,” Farkas barked at Isi as he tugged her by the arm, making her walk faster than her normal speed to keep up. The twins led Isi and Cae into a small meeting room of some kind. They pushed them in and then blocked the door closed. 

Inside of the room, aside from the twins, was Aela and another member of the Companions. Isi didn’t recall his name right away, but recognized his face. Is he supposed to be dead? She then felt a pang of guilt in her gut because he is very much alive, but she _knows_ he will at some point…

Aela cleared her throat, disrupting Isi from her thoughts while also filling the air of the once silent room. “Who exactly are you, girl? I know you said you had business with the Jarl, and my shield-brothers confirmed that to be true, since they saw you enter Dragonsreach yesterday. But I still need answers. We heard you say something you shouldn’t have yesterday, and we need to know the truth. How do you know about the wolf blood? Are you some little spy for the Silverhand? I wouldn’t have imagined those bastards employing fat little guttersnipes to do their sneaking...” 

Isi looked offended and huffed in annoyance. “Okay that was unnecessarily rude. And why’s everyone in this damn country gotta call me either fat, a child or a baby?” She grumbled in irritation. She cleared her throat. “And to answer your question, No. I’m not, I’d never work for those evil pricks. Especially not given what they did to Skj—“ She bit her tongue and silently cursed herself as she’d suddenly remembered the other man’s name and almost revealed his future demise. “What I meant to say is, the Silver Hand has done many wrongs to you and your people, this I know. I’d never work for them. I’m just… I’m just some lost kid, honestly. I can’t get back home and I tend to get into trouble because of… my gifts. I’m sorry for any worry I may have caused you all.”

Aela looked grouchy still. She raised an eyebrow. “For some ‘lost kid’, you know an awful lot. Not even city guards know about our secrets and we’re supposed to believe that some little brat just does? For no reason?”

“It’s not ‘no reason’.... I know the future, that’s my “gift,” you could say. It’s not precise though, but I know many things that will occur that will affect the future of Skyrim,” Isi said. She felt wrong for lying but didn’t want to say the whole truth. “Plus not to be rude, but you guys also smell like wild animals, which helps.”

“That’s the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard. Stop lying to us, you little bi—“ Aela started to say, mad at the girl. She was interrupted by Caecus, who growled threateningly at her.

“Don’t disrespect my friend,” Cae hissed. “She tells no lies, she knows the future. I’ve seen firsthand how her foresight is useful. It’s saved my life a few times in the few days I’ve known her. Now don’t be rude to my kitten anymore or I’ll claw out your eyes,” he said in a harsh tone.

“Oh and I was rude? You just threatened my life over this—“ Aela said before pausing and looking at the two oddly. Isi and Cae hadn’t realized what made her quiet and they in turn looked confused by her lack of response.

That is until Farkas spoke up from behind them with a loud, “Did you call that girl your kitten?” followed by a snort. “So you’re her Pa or something?” 

Vilkas joined in the joking too, punching his brother in the side. “Don't be daft, it’s clearly some odd lover’s nickname.”

“It is not!” Cae hissed out, his fur fluffed up in a mixture of shock and embarrassment at the Nords’ commentary. “She’s just special to me is all. A good friend, that’s it.” The aforementioned friend just stood in awkward silence this whole time.

Aela chuckled and shook her head. Apparently the twins’ outburst lightened her mood. “Okay, I’m sorry for yelling at your ‘friend’ there.” She said. “But I can’t just have her going around with knowledge like this. What if she blabs to someone? We need to keep an eye on her.”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Cae asked, now defensive again, his hands on Isi’s shoulders as he pulled her closer to him. 

“Easy, tiger. I’m merely suggesting we take her in, make her a Companion of sorts, so we can keep a close eye on her. Plus… an Oracle could prove useful. Might even give us the upper hand in dealing with our Silver Hand problem.” Aela explained. 

“Wh— HUH? I don’t wanna— you can’t just force me into your group…. Plus we aren’t even staying in Whiterun forever and will have to be leaving at some point,” Isi said frantically. She was not keen on starting the Companions questline for any reason.

“Don’t care if you don’t want to. It’s either this or we have the twins keep stalking you and your big fuzzy friend for the rest of your stay in town. It’s simpler this way,” Skjor said, finally speaking up. Aela nodded in agreement.

Isi groaned quietly. “I— UGHHH, fine. Whatever. At least it gives us somewhere besides the inn to sleep but I’ll be damned if I’m drinking Aela’s blood right away. I ain’t for that shit,” she grumbled. This earned her odd looks from the pack. “Just another vision of the future. Eventually I’ll probably end up like y’all and I’m not looking forward to the whole ritual shebang. Look, I can’t just turn my ‘foresight’ on and off, so get used to it.”

Skjor huffed in annoyance. Aela looked at him and patted his side reassuringly. “We definitely need to keep her around, even if to just keep her damn lips shut.” The redhead then turned her attention to Vilkas. “You, go take her to Kodlak and see what he makes of our… new recruit.” Then she looked at Farkas. “And you find beds for her and the cat. Preferably somewhere away from everyone. I already don’t want him here and I know the other’s aren’t gonna like him either…”

The twins grumbled in agreement to the commands and led the pair off in different directions. While Farkas found some isolated beds for the two with Caecus in tow, Vilkas took Isi to meet the Harbinger, Kodlak. 

Her meeting with the elderly werewolf went surprisingly easy. Vilkas didn’t want to worry the old man and simply told him that Isi was a new face looking for a place to stay safe and make a name for herself.

Kodlak approved of this description and claimed to have a good feeling about her, saying that was definitely a naive pup, but full of potential for greatness. He then told Vilkas to take her outside and see what she can do.

Upset with constantly being sent off places, Vilkas growled silently and gave a flat “Aye,” before bringing her out to the training grounds in the backyard.

Isi looked uncomfortable as Vilkas dragged her outside. She looked around nervously yet curiously. It was still odd seeing this place with her own eyes. She watched Vilkas as he walked away from her. She stared up at his tall form as we moved away, becoming distracted by his stern face as he turned. She saw his silvery eyes glance her way. If he wasn’t so grouchy he’d be handsome, she mentally remarked before she noticed he was holding a sword. 

“Wh— Um, why the sword?” She asked, having forgotten what was even going on.

Vilkas rolled his eyes and groaned. “Tch, some Oracle. Ya don’t know a fight when you see one?” He asked as he tossed the sword at her.

Isi grunted slightly as it hit her in the chest. “Agh. Well excuse me, but I don’t get into fights often. Well I’ve only been in…. two, and for the first one I just hid behind somebody.”

“What a baby,” she heard him mutter under his breath. He then grabbed a sword of his own and pointed it at her. “Just shut up and fight me so we can get this over with. I need to see what exactly I’m dealing with her…. I need to see how hopeless you are.” He said before swinging at her. 

Isi panicked and flinched. She jumped out of the way and drew her sword, trying to swing back. He was clearly way better than her, even though she knows he’s going very easy on her. She fumbled at her hip with her free hand as they fought. She felt outmatched and wanted a better edge. Then as if by magic, well obviously by magic… but still, her axe appeared in her other hand. This threw Vilkas off guard when it happened as she hit him in the chest with the back of her axe, so as not to hurt him. He grunted and huffed as he looked down at her. “Cheater,” he snarled and chuckled as he was starting to enjoy fighting with her. 

Now Isi was by no means a fighter, but the few times she did engage in larp battles back home, combined with the experience from the Barrow made this a fun experience for her. After a while Vilkas grew tired of the fight and swept a leg from under Isi, making her fall. She fell backwards with a thud. He bent down and smirked slightly at her, tickled by his apparent win. “We done now?”

“No,” Isi said as she looked up at him, trying not to be intimidated by the 6.5 feet of buff Nordic man, currently keeping her on the ground. She then quickly hauled off and kicked him where it hurts before quickly snaking away from him. She started to run back inside, running straight into Farkas, who was just coming outside.

He grunted slightly and raised an eyebrow at her and then he looked over at his brother. “I take it training the welp is going well, Vilkas?”

“Shut up, mudbrain,” Vilkas groaned as he sat on the ground. He eventually got up and walked over to Isi, flicking her in the forehead.

“Ow,” she said.

“Didn’t think I had to say this but you can’t do for dirty shots when sparring with your shield-brothers, Kid,” Vilkas said. 

“Oh and knocking me down wasn’t a dirty move?” Isi asked. “I’m just a poor little girl, after all.”

Vilkas huffed. “Cut the crap. You’re one of us now so you’re gonna have to toughen up. That means getting roughed up a bit. It doesn’t mean you get to punch people in the bollocks.” 

“Fine, fine. Sorry,” Isi said quietly.

After that little spat, Farkas took Isi to the barracks that she and Cae had been assigned. 

“You and the cat sleep here…. Bye.” Farkas said as he walked off. He shook his head.

This was a weird day, Farkas thought to himself. They really let some weird kid and her giant cat be members of the Companions? Neither of those welps belonged. Even they’re Companions by title alone, it still felt crazy. So did the little oracle’s visions or whatever they are. But...at least she seems to get Vilkas out of his stoic state. That’s good for something at least. He kept walking upstairs and was going to go drown out this oddness of the morning with mead and food, but then knocking came out the door.

The tall man groaned as he stood and pushed open the door. Outside of it stood a palace guard. This made Farkas feel confused. 

“Can I help you?” Farkas asked bluntly.

“Er. Yes, the Jarl ordered me to retrieve a pair of adventurers who came into the palace last night. He needs them for official business. I checked the inn and they said that they went here… so I need them now.” The guard woman explained. She shifted slightly.

“Fine,” he said before slamming the door back closed. He grumbled as he went downstairs yet again and went to retrieve the two. 

“Apparently little miss Oracle is needed at Dragonsreach,” Farkas said as he stuck his head in the barracks. “I’m letting you go but if you don’t come back, I’m hunting you two down.”

Isi and Cae then awkwardly shuffled out of the room and went outside. They met with the palace guard who then escorted them through the city. Isi felt bad in the pit of her stomach. The Jarl needs them again? That can only mean one thing and she hated it. They’re gonna have to be led to the court wizard, who needs to see the Dragonstone. Damn it. She didn’t wanna have to deal with any dragons so soon….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School starting back has greatly disrupted my writing time and motivation, but I’ll try to not let it ruin my upload times too terribly
> 
> I’ll try to do at least a few chapters each month while in school


	16. A Wizardly Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dragonstone is finally delivered 
> 
> But an inquisitive wizard makes trouble for our little “Oracle”

The palace guard led Isi and Cae to Dragonsreach. The long walk up the steep staircase, coupled with the amount of energy that Isi had exerted during her earlier romp with Vilkas, had left the poor girl feeling very fatigued. She was wheezing by the time they made it inside of the building. The sound caused concern in her fuzzy comrade. He held her hand tightly, now worried that she might suddenly drop at any moment, like she did inside of bleak falls barrow. She assured him that she was perfectly fine however.

Eventually the two made it to the Jarl’s throne. Jarl Balgruuf sat there speaking with his steward until he saw the pair arrive. He then stood out of his seat to greet them.

“Hello again, you two,” said the Jarl. “I trust you slept well? I apologize for the lackluster response I gave you two yesterday. Surviving Helgen was no easy feat,” he admitted to them. “Which is also why I summoned for you two. You saw a dragon firsthand, so I thought you two would be good candidates to help out my court wizard with a special project of his. He is an avid researcher of all things Dragon.” And with that, the Jarl grabbed the duo and began ushering them out of the main room and into a different room. 

This room was a study of some kind. Bookshelves, cluttered with books, bottles and mystical baubles of all kinds covered every wall. A messy desk adorned with notes in a language that the female in the room could not understand. And at that desk was sat a Nordic wizard in a robe with his hood pulled up, his nose buried deep in a book.

“Here are your new helpers, Farengar,” the Jarl said before pushing the two forward slightly. He then walked away, closing the door to the room as he exited. Now the pair was left alone with the man.

There was a palpable awkwardness in the air as the wizard was refusing to acknowledge the people in front of his work table. He’d requested help and now was ignoring who he’d been sent? It was honestly rude. Caecus cleared his throat roughly, trying to disrupt the dead silence. This earned a groan of irrance from the muttonchopped court wizard opposite the desk.

“Oh do not get testy, _please,_ ” Farengar said, his eyes still glued on his book. “The Jarl has sent me many brutes before and I’m sure you aren’t any diff-” and he stopped mid rant as he finally looked up, seeing that before him were not two brute mercenaries, but instead… a diminutive redguard and a gargantuan Khajiit? Farengar just looked at them in shock for a brief moment before composing himself. He cleared his throat.

“Okay, I stand corrected. You’re incredibly different from what I expected. But the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me, so I won’t question his judgement.” The wizard said admittedly before he put his book down and stood up. “After all, he did mention you two survived an actual dragon attack, so I _should_ be nicer, I apologize.” He then grabbed a paper from his desk, clutching it in his hand. “I’ve needed someone to aid in my research of the dragons for the longest, and now that I know that they actually exist and are here in Skyrim, I need to get this done more than ever. Since you’ve seen a dragon before, I feel you’re good candidates to fetch what I need.” He paused and then looked slightly sheepish as he tugged his hood down. “Well….. when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that….may or may not actually be there,” he admitted. He then handed the paper in his hand to Caecus. “This map will show you where the tablet should be located.”

Caecus held the paper, his face blank. His hand was slightly shaky as he tilted his head toward the paper. He looked like he was pretending to read the map before abruptly shoving the parchment to his small companion. “You read it,” he said in a rushed tone. He clearly felt ashamed about the awkward situation he was just forced in.

Isi nodded and gave a simple. “Okay.” She knew that they already had the stone but was just humoring the wizard. She was soon upset herself when she looked at the map and found that she couldn’t understand a damn thing written on it. She could make out what the landmarks were, of course, but all the writing was an foreign language to her. Her brow furrowed hard. It was at that moment that our otherworlder realized that she had not actually read anything since she’s been in Skyrim. Yes, she read the note in her bag, but that was in English. It had never occurred to her that she can’t read whatever language they use in this world.

Upon noticing now clearly struggling the duo was with the map, Farengar grew a tad concerned. His eyes squinted slightly as he looked up at Cae’s face, then down as Isi’s.  
“.....One of you’s blind and the other is illiterate?” He asked in a flat tone. It was factual yet harsh.   
The pair of bumbling adventurers gave sheepish nods of the head. This made the court wizard rub his temples and groan. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up,” he said as he sat back at his head and slammed his head down against the tabletop.

After the wizard’s somewhat dramatic flop, Isi shuffled towards the desk. She let out a long sigh.She tapped the man’s shoulder. “Actually… I’m not really illiterate. I just can’t read this language. Also we already know about the dragonstone, have it with us. I was just trying to uh… humor with the uh, map… Heh.” She waited for a response.

The wizard lifted his head slightly, frowning at the girl. “You take me for a fool?” He asked. “Don’t play with my emotions,” he said with a huff.

Isi then gestured at Cae. “Show him the stone.” Caecus then reached into his bag pulling out the Dragonstone. 

Farengar’s eyes lit up. “By the Gods, you DO have it!”

“Yes and it’s heavy,” Cae grunted before heaving the stone lab onto the table with a resounding thunk.

Farengar looked incredibly pleased, a big grin on his face. He threw his hood back off as he looked the stone over. “I can’t believe it. It’s really here. And you had it already--” he paused and then between the two people. “Wait, _how_ did you know about it, already come to possess it, and in turn know to bring it here to me?” The Nordic mage inquired. His gaze was directed at Isi, since she was the one who had informed him of the pair’s prior knowledge of the stone map.

“Oh that’s simple!” Caecus started to say proudly, before Isi even got a chance to open her mouth. “Isi is an Oracle. She sees the future. It’s very wonderful, she even saved my life with her gift in fact,” he said as he gushed about his little friend’s abilities. Farengar looked fascinated by this revelation. 

She felt horrible about the lie going on so far now, and for how excited the two men were about it. She urged Caecus to shut up but he wouldn’t. She then sighed loudly and yelled over him to get his attention.

“OI!”

Her outburst earned a startled jolt from the men. She then cleared her throat. “I… have a confession to make. Okay?” She said as she looked towards Cae. She sighed softly before speaking again. “I… am _not_ an Oracle. But the reasons behind why I know the things I do, it’s a trip. Like, a major doozy so I think you two should sit down before I finish explaining myself okay?”

Farengar and Caecus both had skeptical expressions on their faces but did not object. The wizard sat at his desk while the Khajiit sat down on a trunk. 

“If you aren’t an Oracle then what are you? How do you know all the things you do?” Cae asked, his ears drooping slightly. “...And why didn’t you tell _me_ the truth?”

Farengar chimed in after him. “Yes, let’s hear what you have to say.”

Isi huffed and continued, trying not to feel incredibly guilty about the constant lying she’s done the fast few days. She then finally told them the truth.  
“Okay… I know what I do because I am from.. another place. Another world. Maybe even another dimension, I’m not sure. But where I’m from, your world does not actually exist. It’s just part of an elaborate series of games. You are all just characters in a game. A game that I love to play. I know practically everything about the Skyrim game, I’ve spent years playing it over and over, pretending to be some grand hero that saves your world…. And I guess fate had weird plans for me because a few days ago I was magically stolen from my own world and sent here, to yours…”

She braced herself for response but was met with stunned silence. The two seemed to be trying to find the right reactions. Farengar was first to speak up. “Another world… Astonishing. What… what was it like? Your world?” He asked.

Isi thought for a moment. “Earth— that’s what it’s called- it’s nothing like here. Magic doesn’t exist. Elves, orcs, beastmen, Aedra and Daedra.... None of it exists. It’s a huge place, everyone is always busy. But it wasn’t… the best place to live lately, I’ll admit,” she said. “Lots of racist pigs throughout the country— so kinda like here,” she remarked, “Oh and there was… like, a plague going around but it hadn’t reached where I lived,” she added with a shrug. The last comment received concerned faces from the listeners.

“Yeah my homeland was a mess but it’s still my home and one day I’d hope to find a way back….” she said softly. She sniffles briefly before straightening up. She cleared her throat. “But so yeah, that’s why I know so much shit about things I shouldn't.”

Then Caecus had a question for the little woman. “Why tell us.. anyone, now? You could’ve kept up your lie forever…” The words made a pang of guilt stir at Isi’s stomach. 

“I felt so bad for lying, but I knew I couldn’t just tell the truth right away or I’d be locked away for being insane or something. And I didn’t tell you right away Cae because I thought you’d leave me. And I said something now because… well, in the game… after I give the Dragonstone away, the dragons attacks start to really kick off,” she said. 

“Sooo…. yeahhh, we may have to deal with that soon. Or not. I’m not sure because since I’ve been physically here, not everything is timed the way it was in the game,” she said in one quick breath before going quiet again.

Farengar was slightly jarred at the last pieces of information that the young woman gave him. He cleared his throat.  
“Well… you’ve given me a lot to think about...” “Isi”  
“Lady Isi, the otherworlder. I’ll just be here… contemplating my very existence while studying the Dragonstone you gave me.” the wizard said. “I’m sure the Jarl or his steward will pay you well for helping me with my research.”

He started to walk Isi and Cae out of his study when the trio’s path was blocked by a dark elf woman. It was Irileth, the Jarl’s housecarl.

“A dragon has been seen outside Whiterun. The Jarl needs to speak to you immediately,” she said. The elven woman then turned her red gaze onto the other two. “You should come as well.”

Isi didn’t say a word as she and the others were led to the meeting room by Irileth, but inside she was screaming. She couldn’t believe it was really happening now. She’s really going to have to fight a dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s almost time for the fight!
> 
> Let’s hope it goes well!
> 
> ——————————————
> 
> Also, I am interested in looking for a proofreader and am curious if any of the fine readers of my story would like such a position


	17. The Rise of Dragons, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the first big battle of the story! Mirmulnir has attacked the western watchtower and the city must be defended!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pov will shift a few times in this chapter

The Jarl’s war room was the current setting. In it stood the aforementioned Jarl, positioned near a table with a city guard. The Jarl’s housecarl was walking into the room with the court wizard and two particular adventurers. The Dunmeri woman was presently fed up with the incessant questions and comments the mage kept posing. 

“A dragon is really here in the hold? How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?" Farengar asked as he’d hurried up into the room.

Irileth glared at the man. “I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you, you irritating fanboy. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it.”

The Jarl looked at the guard, who’d been waiting for the group to arrive. "So, Irileth told me you came from the western watchtower?" He asked.

"Yes, my lord. That’s where I saw the dragon coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen." said the guard. The voice of the guard was that of a young man. He must’ve been a young recruit. It made the Redguard in the room feel rather uneasy.

"Wat did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?" Inquired Balgruuf.

“No, my Lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure,” the guard admitted. His voice was shaky. Beneath his armored helmet, he sounded so afraid of what had happened.

“Good work, son,” said Balgruuf as he patted the man of the back. “We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it.” He then turned to his housecarl. “Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there."

Irileth nodded her head and bowed slightly.“Aye sir, I’ve lready ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

Balgruuf grunted slightly, giving a please smile. "Good. Don't fail me, friend.” He watched as his housecarl left. She went off ahead to go meet the guards at the end of the city. Balgruuf then turned to face the adventurous duo. He stood tall as he spoke to them. “There's no time to stand on ceremony. I need your help again. I want you two to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here.” He said. He sighed as he looked the two over. “I know it’s a lot to ask of strangers but I have faith that you two will do well. With Irileth and my guards fighting alongside you, I’m certain you all can take down that winged beast. Do this for me and I will be in your debt. Now go grab some armor and take down that winged fiend.”

Isi nodded her head, Cae following suit. “We won’t let you down,” they said.

It was now Isi and Cae’s turn to leave. The pair had hurried out of Dragonsreach. After coming outside and making it halfway through town, they were interrupted by a sudden strange noise. There was a muffled vibrating tone.

“What is that strange sound?” Caecus asked.

Isi then realized it was her phone. “My phone. Hold on, okay?”

She moved with Cae to a nearby alley, so nobody would see what was happening. She then reached into her bag and retrieved her buzzing phone. She unlocked her phone and was surprised to see… a notification? 

The notification read

>   
>  LogBook:  
>  An important mission is about to unfold. Your forgotten gifts are now ready to be revealed to you. Receive them now. 

  
A little dumbfounded by the sudden alert, tapping it. She was astonished to see that within it was an arrangement of items she had not known were there. What stuck out to her were some items labeled under a category of ‘Blessed by Divines’. The apparently sanctified set of items included: two sets of body armor, arm/leg guards, a sword, an axe and a hammer. She was startled by this, but also thankful… and confused. Which of the Aedra would’ve sent this to her? Akatosh perhaps, but why wait until right now? It would have been useful before now, like when they were in Bleak Falls. But… hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

Isi cast her gaze skyward and muttered a quick. “Thanks,” before tapping the equip icon that was next to the image of the armor. With a chime and a magical flourish, custom fit curiasses was now situated tightly against her and her comrade’s chests. They also now held weapons in their hands, a sword and axe respectively.She looked amazed by what had happened but Cae looked incredibly shocked.

“Heh.... worn me before doing your strange magics again, okay?” He pleaded softly.  
He felt the sword in his hand, studying it. “Although, I must say I like this here.”

She nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll give you a heads up next time. Now let’s go,” she said as she ran off with him to the edge of the city.

At the edge of town stood Irileth, a collection of city guards and a few very brave townsmen who had decided to join in as well. The dunmer was giving a speech to the makeshift mob, to explain the situation at hand as well as rally their spirits before this deadly battle ensues.

“Here's the situation. A dragon is attacking the Western Watchtower,” the dark elf started to say before being interrupted by a surprised guard.  
“A real dragon?! But, but— how... why?!”  
Irileth glared at him. “You heard right! I said a dragon! I don't much care where it came from or who sent it. What I do know is that it's made the mistake of attacking Whiterun!" She exclaimed as she raised her sword skyward dramatically.

Another guard spoke up now. “But Housecarl... how can we fight a dragon?" 

Irileth lowered her sword and sighed. “That's a fair question,” she said. “None of us have ever seen a dragon before,” she remarked before throwing a quick glance at the two Helgen survivors, “or expected to see one in battle. But we are honorbound to fight it, even if we fail. This dragon is threatening our homes... our families. Could you call guards truly yourselves Nords if you ran from this beast?” She then inquired loudly. “Are you going to let me face this thing alone?" This earned a resounding ‘no’ from the crowd of foolishly patriotic Nordic men. A crooked smirk crept over the woman’s face. “Good! But it's more than our honor at stake here, men. Think of it - the first dragon seen in Skyrim since the last age. The glory of killing it is ours, if you're with me! Now what do you say? Shall we go kill us a dragon?" 

The crowd cheered roaringly, wielding their swords and shields. The mob of men then barged out of the city gates and headed to the Western Watchtower. The minuscule army was about twenty strong or so, composed of: a portion of city’s guard, some various able-bodied townsmen and our intrepid adventurers.

_ Isi’s Perspective  _

The sun was high in the sky. My heart was pounding nervously as I marched towards out of Whiterun. I was at the back of the crowd, beside Caecus. My blood felt cold. I was dreading the thought of the upcoming fight, ever since I got stranded here in Skyrim. Am I really out here, going to square up with Goddamn dragon? I felt scared. I mean, I know I _can_ fight things. After all, I fought through draugr the other day... But zombies are way different from a gargantuan lizard that can roast me alive with a fucking sneeze.

It seemed my nervous shaking had drawn attention from my friend, because I soon found Caecus placing a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, I’m scared too,” he admitted quietly. “But I know the Gods will protect us—“ he said before cutting short. His expression turned slightly down he gave an awkward chuckle, “and yours are watching too. Heh... I was focused on this so much that I hadn’t stopped to think how you... have different ones, where you’re from, yes?” He said, referring to my being from an entirely different world.

“Oh it’s... just one. Only one, but yes I’m sure He is going to protect us, Cae,” I said. _I sure hope so at least._

Eventually we reached the western watchtower, but it was ruined by the time we’d arrived. Flames littered the ground, scorching the grass. The stone bricked tower was half crumpled, collapsing in on itself. Within the blades of burning grass, I could see half of what was once a guard. My stomach did somersaults but I kept my composure as best I could. I looked around then looked skyward. The dragon had definitely been here, but he was nowhere to be found right now. And that made me nervous. We waited in a deathly silence until a deafening roar came from the heavens. I stared upward, clutching onto my axe as I saw the dragon fly over the crest of a mountain and come swooping towards the small battalion. This is it.

The citizens of Whiterun, and the two outsiders, all braced themselves for the dragon’s descent. The winged beast flew in large circles overhead, burning the ground below him. His large wings clipped the watchtower, forcing it to crumble completely.

The dragon chuckled as the guards fired arrows at him. Some of the projectiles missed, but a few stuck in between his scales, though not penetrating his thick skin underneath.  
“Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde!" He exclaimed with a chuckle as he swooped down and landed on the ground roughly, shaking the terrain beneath him.

The dragon looked around, surveying his attackers as they charged him. He snapped his teeth and them, swinging his tail and head. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

“Pruzah!" He said with a hearty chuckle. “Krif kris, you mortals! Hah, I had forgotten what fine sport your kind can provide!" The words only enraged his attackers more.

This monster is having fun? He sees this as a game? How dare he not take this seriously, they thought to themselves.

“Housecarl, we ain’t getting through his skin, we should retreat!” A guard shouted to Irileth. The dark elf scowled at the very idea. “Never, just keep fighting men! We’ll wear the beast down eventually.” She forced her men to keep fighting. Honorbound, as she’d say. They fight to the end, even if that meant going down by dragon fire.

Both the dragon and the fighters were too busy to pay any mind to where the pair of outsiders had gone. Situated behind the great beast, they sneaking up for a job moment to strike.

_ Cae’s Perspective  _

The sounds of battle rang in my ears, the smell of burnt flesh and fields permeated my nostrils, clouding my brain. I struggling to keep my focus as I flanked the dragon alongside my tiny friend.

My feet planted firmly on the ground, I tried to remain calm despite the chaos around me. I could feel all the movements around me. Men running feverishly as they hacked hopelessly at the beast, their hearts pounding in their chests... It made me that much more determined to fight.

Isi and I charged at the dragon’s backside. My little friend ran ahead of me, much to my surprise. I was going to ask what in Oblivion she was thinking, but her actions soon answered me before my question escaped my throat. I was momentarily stopped in my tracks as mage sight allowed me to ‘see’ her swoop down by the dragon’s feet and begin hacking at the monster’s ankles. I laughed at the satisfying screeches from the beast made. 

“Hah, you giant lizard!” I said with a chuckle as I swung the sword Isi had given me earlier. The metal was incredibly light but sharp. I chopped the tip of the dragon’s tail clean off. I felt proud of the small damage I’d done… But that’s when things took a turn.

The dragon suddenly swung its tail and hit me in the stomach hard, sending me flying. I felt petrified as I was tossed, completely blind until I found myself colliding with a nearby rock. I groaned in pain, clutching my head. I felt blood run down the side of my face. I stumbled slightly but readied my sword. The dragon had turned around and now faced us. Isi ran towards me trying to get away from the monster. I then heard a deafening scream from her as the creature bit down on her ankle. I then lost all sense of her the dragon tossed her into the air. My mind was racing, heart pounding and then I found all thoughts completely escaping me. 

The last thing I could remember from that moment was the sickly sound of the dragon’s throat as it had swallowed her....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read as always
> 
> And let me know if I should shift the pov more often in the story. I like how the format looks but I would really like opinions on it.


	18. The Rise of Dragons, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of the battle with Mirmulnir

Horrified and enraged at the fire-breathing abomination that just devoured his friend, Caecus let forth a guttural roar as he stared down the dragon. Still off balance from the blow to his skull, his movements weren’t the best, but he was determined to kill this bastard. 

The other fighters had seen what had happened and charged at the dragon. They attacked at him frantically. Although they did not cut through his skin, the barrage of arrows, swords and axes being clashed against his body was enough to keep him down.

While they were all swarming the dragon, Caecus was trying to get his bearings again. His magesight was distorted, the images in creates in his mind were untrustworthy and fuzzy but he was not giving up. He couldn’t. He must avenge his friend’s demise...  
Or what he had originally perceived as her doom. As he focused, he found that within the gullet of the monster was a heartbeat. She is still alive in there! 

Now in a mental panic over how to rescue her, Caecus directed his ‘sight’ everywhere, looking for any opportune location to strike at the dragon. His focus turned to the large rock that he’d been knocked against earlier. The dragon was right next to it, distracted and flailing as it tried to shake off the very tenacious soldiers who were avoiding his flames. 

Caecus saw his chance and took it. He ran to the rock, climbing in as he brandished his blade. He took a deep breath before he made his move. He waited for the dragon to be at just the right spot. Then the Khajiit jumped hard off of the rock, ignoring the inner trembling of his core at not being grounded. He landed atop the dragon’s head. The dragon frantically tried to shake him off.

“Unhand me, you foolish furred mortal!” The dragon shouted.

But Caecus did not falter. He held onto the dragon’s horn to steady himself as he slashed at the creature’s head and neck. He ended with one sharp stab into the dragon’s skull, the sword digging under the scales and through the skin and bone, stabbing the dragon in the brain. 

“Dovahkiin...no...” was all the beast had left to say before it fell down dead.

Caecus then hurriedly ran over to the dragon’s stomach, cutting it open with a discarded battle axe from one of the many soldiers who’d been fighting. After he cut open the belly of the beast, he was relieved to find his dear friend Isi climbing her way out of the monster’s gut. 

Isi coughed and heaved, spitting out dragon bile. She wiped her mouth off her arm and gave a weak chuckle. “That… was not how I saw that fight going,” she said while shaking bits of draconian saliva from her bodice.

Isi suddenly she found herself being pulled into Cae’s arms. The emotionally drained Khajiit held her protectively, like one might do a fragile toy. His erratic breathing was now calming down.   
“Do not scare me like that again,” he muttered as he hugging her tightly despite the little woman’s protests and remarks that he’ll snap her in half. A sudden intense glow behind them startled the pair out of their little reunion.

The dead dragon’s body had began to glow brightly. His skin faded from his form, disappearing into the wind like embers of a bonfire. The battle worn duo stared in awe, mesmerized by the sight. Neither of them paid mind to Irileth’s urging of everyone to stand back away from the mystically burning corpse. As Mirmulnir’s body was burning away, his soul burst forth from his core, whooshing at Isi and Cae. The force of the contact knocked the two onto their backs. The sensation was indescribable, incredible yet highly invasive. They felt the soul being split in two as it entered their bodies. And then came the same sort of whispering they’d heard within bleak falls barrow. A single word reverberating within their minds: _Fus._

When their heads finally cleared and they regained their senses, the two were slightly startled by the city guards surrounding them, Irileth directly next to them. The dark elf’s face showed genuine concern at what had happened. “…Are you two alright?” She inquired. Before either could speak, one of the city guards broke the silence. He dropped his horned helmet to the ground as he stared in awe at the two.

"I can't believe it. You're...Dragonborn," the guard said. He was a man who looked to be middle-aged.Isi was silent, afraid and slightly shaking over her fears being made reality. She has the voice. She knows all the things that will have to come to pass and it scared her.  
Caecus however...was amazed at the events that occurred. He hadn’t said anything, but for some reason, when the dragon burned, he see it. Actually see it— his eyes worked. He saw the blinding fiery destruction of the dragon’s body. He saw its very essence enter himself and Isi. He..actually saw Isi with his true eyes, although for a few short moments, before his vision was gone again, as the voices left him. He had questions. So many of them. But just one question escaped him right now as he directed his attention toward the guard. “What… is a Dragonborn?" Caecus asked, his head tilted slightly.  
“In the very oldest tales, back from when there were dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power. That's what you did, isn't it? The both of you… you absorbed that dragon's power, right?” the guard asked.Isi and Cae looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the guard, nodding their heads.  
“Then... that means you can Shout,” said the guard. He had a giddy look of his face, his mind full of the legends of the Dragonborn that he’d been told as a child. Those memories were flooding back and filling his with wonder as had two such heroes in front of him.

“Shout?” Cae asked.

“Aye,” the guard replied, “according to the old legends, only the Dragonborn can Shout without training, the way the dragons do. Try to shout. That would prove it,” he urged the two. The rest of the guards seemed excited to see what would happen. 

Hesitantly, Isi nodded. “Okay,” she muttered before standing up along with Cae. They decided to test out their voice on a nearby tree. Taking a deep breath, the two paused before shouting that lone word of the dovahzuul.

 _**“FUS!”** _ they shouted simultaneously. The tree snapped in half and uprooted, splinterings of wood and ash flying away from the force of their shouting.

“By the Gods! You really _are_ Dragonborn!” The main guard said happily. He chuckled slightly before pausing. “Not at all the sort of people I expected from the tales, but still!” He remarked.

Irileth had kept rather quiet this whole time, just watching the scene unfold. She then cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two dragon kin. “You two… need to go tell the Jarl what happened,” she muttered. The dark elf was not one for myths and legends but…. clearly some legends hold weight, it seems.

“Oh, of course. We’ll let him know at once,” Cae said before walking away with Isi. He took his friend by the arm as they walked back to town. 

As they walked, Isi couldn’t help noticing the blood which stained Cae’s fur with horrid reds and pinks. She saw the blood was definitely coming from the head of her towering companion. “Do you have a concussion?” She asked quietly. “That’s… an awful lot of blood in your fur,” she noted.

“I’m fine,” he said adamantly. She knew that was a lie. He definitely needs to get that dealt with soon. How is he not collapsing from pain? Must be adrenaline...

Eventually the two returned through the gates of Whiterun. Just as the two made it into the city’s walls, the ground shook feverishly as a thunderous cacophony of voices erupted from a far-off mountains. There was only one word spoken, the sound of it rattling rooftops.

_**Dovahkiin!**_


	19. After The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After returning to Whiterun, our tenacious twosome report back to the Jarl in a most unexpected way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m surprised at how long this chapter ended up being
> 
> Let me know in the comments if I should make chapters be this length more often

_**“Dovahkiin!”**_

That single word rattled in our battered dyad’s heads as they’d entered Whiterun after killing the dragon. It had startled them both.

“What in Oblivion was that?” Cae inquired of his tiny comrade. The Khajiit was confused by the shouting that came from a distant mountain. What could it be? Surely his friend will know the answer, since she is so... knowledgeable, about strange things.

“Just......some people we’ll have to meet eventually,” Isi responded vaguely.

She then began to walk through the city with him. The two didn’t get far though. The fight, alone with their injuries, had made them both rather exhausted. The two slumped onto a nearby bench. 

Caecus huffed loudly, groaning quietly. “We’re rather worse for wear, yes?” He asked and wiped a little of the blood from his face. 

“Yeah... I don’t even know what we were thinking. I mean, the dragon is dead yeah, but we were hardly ready for that. You got your head bashed and I got eaten,” Isi grumbled. She let out a long sigh as she sat beside her friend. “We both need to get fixed up and then have a really long bath,” she remarked as she angrily eyed the layer of filth her body was coated in.

She closed her eyes, still annoyed at their current state. She mentally cursed this world for being so big. The city of Whiterun is way larger than it appeared in-game. It would take a while to actually get to the jarl’s palace. She frowned slightly. She wanted to be there already, she needed to be in Dragonsreach _now._

Isi failed to notice that her frustrated wishing was stronger than she thought until it was too late. She hadn’t felt the etherial tendrils of mana that crept round her fingertips, snaking up her wrists. When she’d opened her eyes again, she found herself becoming enveloped by a magical glow.  
“Ah!” She squeaked in shock at herself.  
Cae felt the strange energy of the magic and grabbed Isi’s hands out of panic and concern for his little friend. This did not stop the glow, which now covered him as well. The two felt stunned as the magic stole them away with a flash.

The pair would find themselves feeling disoriented and still confused. The magic had swallowed them and spat them out…in the middle of Dragonsreach, in front of a very startled Jarl and his steward and a man who Isi vaguely recalled being the Jarl’s brother. Caecus let go of Isi and stuttered in shock at what happened. How’d they get here, he thought to himself. Isi stared at her hands. “Wh.. what the fuck?” She asked herself quietly. 

“H-“ the Jarl stuttered before clearing his throat, “How did…” he paused and shook his head as he gathered his thoughts. “I’d no idea you were a mage, child. Let alone a powerful one,” he said before pausing once more, giving the two shaken adventurers time to address him. “I…trust the battle with the dragon went well?” He inquired as he noticed how messy and battered the two were.

Isi spoke up first. “It was a tough fight. I’d got swallowed, but I’m fine now..heh. So yeah, we did manage to kill the dragon.” She said. She then nervously continued her commentary. “Also….it turns out that… we,” she says while gesturing between Cae and herself, “are…..Dragonborn.”

This caused Jarl Balgruuf to look surprised, then skeptical. “Dragonborn? What do you know about the Dragonborn?" He asked with an unsure squint to his eyes. 

“I-it’s true,” Cae said. “When the dragon died…we absorbed some kind of power from it. It…was it’s soul, I could feel it. We…felt it split into us.”

“Indeed?” Jarl Balgruuf asked quietly. He then remarked. “The Greybeards’ calling must be meant you two then… Incredible.”

“What exactly do these Greybeards want with us?” Cae inquired.

"The Dragonborn is uniquely gifted in the Voice - the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu'um, or Shout. If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use your gift properly,” the Jarl explained plainly. 

The Jarl’s brother spoke up suddenly. “Dragonborn… this hasn't happened in ... centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora!" He proclaimed, only to be interrupted by the Jarl’s steward, Proventus.

"Hrongar, calm yourself,” said Proventus. “What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our friends here? Capable as they may be, I don't see any signs of them being this, what, "Dragonborn.”” This led to a small argument as Hrongar called Proventus arrogant and disrespectful. After the brief chewing out, the steward offered apologies. He looked at Isi and Cae, saying “I meant no disrespect, of course…” he then looked at the Jarl. “It's just that... Well, what do these Greybeards want with them? And wasn’t it the ‘tradition’ that the Dragonborn is of Nordic blood? These two here are…..far from that.” He remarked.

Jarl Balgruuf groaned quietly. He then asserted to his steward, "That's the Greybeards' business, not ours. And it isn’t our place to disagree with who the Gods decide are worthy of the dragonblood.” He then got up from his throne and approached the duo in question. “Whatever happened when you killed that dragon, it revealed something in you, and the Greybeards heard it. If they think you're Dragonborn, who are we to argue?” He looked sincere as he spoke. “No matter your race… or breed, it’s clear you’re destined for something grand.” He patted them on the head, like a proud father might do.  
"You've done a great deed for me and my city, Dragonborn.” He said. “By my right as Jarl, I hereby grant you two the title of Thane of Whiterun. It's the greatest honor that's within my power to grant.” He told them as he bowed slightly to show them respect. “We would be honored to have you two as Thanes of our city." 

Isi and Cae looked moved by the man’s words. He really does admire them, huh? “Thank you,” they said in unison. Cae looked the most emotional about this. It was a shock to the system, being seen as a hero, and given a noble title. “We’re grateful for your generosity, my Jarl,” Cae said.

This made Balgruuf smile a bit. “Aye, it’s not everyday one of your people gets to prove their worth. But I for one have come to realize that… one shouldn’t judge so harshly.” He noted. 

The Jarl returned to his throne. He sat down as he kept talking. “I will assign you Lydia as a personal Housecarl, and to serve as your badge of office, I offer you these.” He then gestured for his steward to fetch something. The imperial man later returned with two necklaces and two swords. “These weapons are from my personal armory. Though they may not be as grand as whatever you stayed the beast with.” He then spoke of the necklaces as his steward places them around the pair’s necks. “These necklaces bear the insignia of my Hold. Wear them proudly, to show your status among my people.” 

Balgruuf then thought briefly. “I’ll also notify my guards of your new titles. Wouldn't want them to think you're part of the common rabble, now would we? And as Thanes, you have the privilege of having permanent housing within my city. I wouldn’t have the two who saved us from a dragon sleep in the old inn all the time.” The Jarl then looked to his steward. “Proventus, go fetch a house key for them. Breezehome is still available as I recall.” 

Proventus left to procure the aforementioned key, and returned with it after a few minutes. He handed the key to Caecus. “...Enjoy your new home,” the steward said with a clear lack of enthusiasm. 

“Oh don’t mind him,” said Balgruuf, “He’s slow to warm to strangers is all. But he’ll show you to your new home, isn’t that right?” He said as he cut his eyes at the imperial, who simply nodded in response. The Jarl then looked back at his two heroes. “You two get cleaned up and perhaps have a short rest. I will have your housecarl arrive at Breezehome within an hour. And by then, I’m sure the guards will have been spreading word of the help you’ve given our city. You should go cavort with the masses later,” he said with a chuckle before he calmed down he then looked serious. “But tomorrow, you two should make way to High Hrothgar. It takes about half day’s time to get from here to Ivarstead. Then from there you’ll have to climb the 7,000 steps of the mountain,” he told them. He saw their frustrated expressions at the distance they’d have to traverse but continued on, to reiterate the importance. “There's no refusing the summons of the Greybeards, it's a tremendous honor… I actually envy you, you know? High Hrothgar is a very peaceful place. Very... disconnected from the troubles of this world.” He then seemed to get lost in his own thoughts. “I wonder if the Greybeards even notice what's going on down here. They haven't seemed to care before... No matter. Go to High Hrothgar. Learn what the Greybeards can teach you, my children.”

After Jarl Balgruuf had finished talking, he dismissed the tired duo. He had his steward take the pair to where their new home was. The house is located within the wind district, unlike ‘before’, and is a nice two storied abode. The steward let them go inside before leaving them alone.

Once inside of Breezehome, the pair relaxed greatly. They had their own home, it was amazing! Isi for one was glad they didn’t have to pay for it, though she didn’t say so aloud. Cae was just glad that it wasn’t an Inn. The two began to explore the house.  
Breezehome was fully furnished, much to their delight. There were two bedrooms, the Master and Guest rooms respectively. The house also sported two bathrooms, a stocked kitchen, a dining room, alchemy lab and a loft. It really was a wonderful house and they both were grateful for the Jarl’s generosity. 

After they’d had a look around, the two went their separate ways to get cleaned from their earlier fight. The bathrooms had enchanted tubs, where the water flowed, unending, from a charmed pump. There were also fancy soaps in the house, with little flowers made into the bars. These helped monumentally when it came to getting the blood out of fur, or slime out of hair. One would hardly want to leave the bath once in it, soaking in the warm, enchanted waters.

Once finally cleansed of a day’s worth of grime, now came the time to find some fresh clothes. Luckily the wardrobes in the bedrooms had an outfit or two inside them. Isi got dressed in some fine robes she’d found. The clothes were too big for her, clearly having belonged previously to someone who was very tall and broad shouldered. She didn’t magically fix the attire right away, inside giggling as she went to go check on her friend. She wondered if he had a similar issue with the clothing that was lying around here. She pushed open the door to the bedroom he was in. She found herself looking at Caecus, wearing what she deemed a fancy shirt, sat bare legged on a chair, muttering swears as he tried to rip a hole into a sturdy pair of pants. When he noticed her, his ears tilted backwards in annoyance as he heard her trying not to laugh.

“You’re in no place to laugh, in that giant dress, you know,” he huffed.  
“I know, I know, sorry,” she chuckled, “here, lemme just try to find—” she said as she was waving her hand while talking, and a pair of scissors appeared in her palm, “—well this.”

She then took the pants and cut a neat hole into it where Cae had shown her. 

“You’re very handy,” he remarked. He then paused briefly and tilted his head as he inquired, “Why am you so good at magic? I recall you saying it didn’t exist in your own world.”

Isi simply shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, and I wouldn’t call myself good. It’s not like I’m actually doing it on purpose, most of the time stuff just… happens.” She admitted. She then looked at her ill-fitting robe and actually tried to focus herself. She sighed as she relaxed and focused on trying to do whatever magic she’d done the previous day, at the Trader. She felt a tinge of happiness as she did manage to replicate the result, her clothes now magically becoming fit to her body proportions. “I suppose I’ll get better at magic the more I try? Though it would be better if we knew someone who could actually teach me,” she said.

“I’m sure we can find you a magic teacher one day,” Caecus said. He then stood up with a light grunt and grabbed the newly altered pants to put them on. He found himself confused by the way Isi suddenly squeaked and turned away when he stood. “—Are you okay?” He asked her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” assured the little woman, not wanting to explain what just caught her attention. A sudden knocking at the front door saved her from further embarrassment. “I’ll go get the door,” she said as she ran off.

Isi ran to the front door and opened it. “Hello— Oh!” she said as she looked up at a tall Nord woman with dark hair. This woman was huge. Of course a Nord is huge, but Isi hadn’t seen a Nord woman who could match in height before now. She was broad-built and muscular. The woman looked down at the redguard she was towering over. “Excuse me…” she said softly. “My name is Lydia. The Jarl sent me here, saying that the new Thanes live here. You’re one of them, I take it?”

“Yes,” Isi nodded as she let Lydia into the house. 

Lydia looked around with curiosity. The woman was beefy as sin, but clearly held a lively energy of a young woman. Isi couldn’t help but wonder how old she was, because she didn’t seem like she was much older than her or Cae. The enthusiastic housecarl walked back to Isi and took a knee, bowing her head to the little lady.

“It is an honor to serve you, my Thane,” Lydia said before raised her head to look at her. She chuckled. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be so… tiny. Heh, Jarl Balgruuf didn’t tell me anything about what you looked like. But he told me you slayed a dragon!” She said as she stood, bouncing on her toes for a split second. “That must have been so exciting, fearlessly facing down a fire-breathing beast”, Lydia remarked in a wishful way.

Some guilt filled Isi’s mind as she knew she wasn’t the one to actually deliver the killing blow to Mirmulnir. “Oh well yes but, it wasn’t just me. Caecus did all the hard work, in fact he saved me when the dragon…. ate me, Eheh. So go gush praises to him, okay?” She said.

“Oh? Well as you wish….” Lydia said as she paused, “I didn’t get your name yet, by the way, my Thane.”

“Oh, well my name is….Isioma….but I’d prefer if you just call me Isi,” she said.

“But—“ stuttered the housecarl, “It’s disrespectful to address a master by a short-name, Lady Isioma.” This earned a groan from the little woman. The women were interrupted as the Khajiit entered the room, now fully dressed. He heard the talking and decided to join in. “I think Isioma is a nice name.” he said, “Why don’t you use your full name more?”

Isi huffed and rolled her eyes. “I just think it’s too long. Plus it means lucky and I definitely haven’t been feeling lucky, especially considering the past few days of my life. But whatever, I guess it you two really wanna call me that,” she grumbled. “Fine, you can use my proper name.”

“Thank you, my Thane,” Lydia said, “and I agree with Lord Caecus, Isioma is a rather lovely sounding name,” she said with a smile. Meanwhile Cae smirked in a silly manner, feeling pleased at being referred to so honorably. 

“Oh, by the way, it’s nice to meet you, Lydia,” Cae said as he shook her hand.  
“Likewise, my Thane. And might I say, I think it’s incredible to meet a Khajiit. I’d always heard such conflicting things about your kind, some townspeople really hate Beastmen but others like Ysolda and Hulda seem to like them. You seem a very honorable one to me and I’m honored to serve you,” she said. 

An abrupt yawn made Lydia chuckle . The sound came from the smaller of the Thanes. Lydia looked over at her. “Dragon fighting must be tiring work, huh? I think you should turn in early, my Thane.”

“Oh, but it’s not that late,” Isi objected, still yawning, “though you may have a point. Plus now that I’m relaxed, I guess how damn tired I am has caught up with me all at once,” she said.

“I think I’ll do the same later,” said Cae. “I’ll sleep in the guest bed and I suppose our Housecarl can bunk with you? Sweet dreams, _Lady Isioma,_ ” the cat teased.

Too sleepy to argue or question him, Isi went off to the Master bedroom. She could hear Lydia asking Caecus questions as she left. She briefly wondered what she was inquiring, but didn’t care too much. When Isi made it to the master bedroom, she let out a loud yawn and stretched. She flopped onto the bed, kicking off her boots and bag. She could hardly keep her eyes open longer. It’s been a lot that’s occurred today and who’s to say she doesn’t deserve to take a nap?


	20. Into The Twilight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nightmare becomes a divine dream  
> Then our duo, now a trio, packs up and sets off to Ivarstead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twenty Chapters written, yay

_I was alone, in the dark. Suddenly my sense were attacked by the smell of burnt flesh and grass. I opened my eyes to find myself trembling, an axe in my hand as I looked up into the eyes of Mirmulnir. He chuckled, his tail swaying as he stared down at me._

_“Weak... Such a weak, useless thing,” he said, his voice echoing in my head. “You couldn’t even defeat me. That blind alley-cat had to strike me down while you were sliding down into my stomach.” He snapped his teeth at me, scaring me and making me stumble onto my back. “You know you’re nothing, admit it!” He roared as he opened his jaws and lunged at me._

_I tried to make a response but all that escaped me was a helpless squeak, like a wounded deer. I shut my eyes as I saw his teeth coming at me._

_“Foolish child,” I heard another voice say. I opened my eyes and let out a shriek. I saw now hanging upside down, a black tail coiled around my leg. I was no longer facing Mirmulnir, but the world-water himself... Alduin. “Useless in your own world and ever more so in this one. You can’t save Skyrim. You can’t even save yourself,” Alduin said as he dropped me, opening his mouth. I couldn’t even scream as I began to fall. I just closed my eyes and affected my horrible fate.... or so I thought._

_I opened my eyes again and was now in an entirely new location. I was in an endless meadow, beautiful flowers and mushrooms all around and when I looked towards the heavens, I saw countless stars and planets. Each one seemed to whisper as it twinkled. I saw so distracted by the scenery, I failed to notice I wasn’t alone._

_I jolted as I felt a hand upon my shoulder. “Ah!” I shrieked._

_“Calm, child,” said a man’s voice, “Be still, Isioma.”_

_I turned to face the source of the voice. I looked up at a very lanky and beautiful man with coppery skin that was peppered with golden scales, pointed ears and horns which sprouted from atop his head._

_“Whoa,” I said in a hushed tone as I looked at him._

_The man chuckled and shook his head. “I tend to get that reaction,” he said with a hint of smugness. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “Greetings, my little outlander child. I am Akatosh, though you may have surmised this already.”  
“I brought you into the twilight, well a small portion of it, the space between Worlds. I know you have many questions you seek answered, so I will grant you what information I can before you awaken. Now, ask away.” The dragon-god then sat down on the ground patting the grass in front of him. I sat down as well and gathered my thoughts. _

_“...Why am I here? Can I go home? H-how’s my mom?” I asked. Those were the first questions that I had._

_The golden colored deity paused before letting out a long sigh. “Your soul is ‘here’ because the veil between worlds has moments where it becomes…torn, one could say? Tears in this space cause portals to open, sending souls to other worlds, often times it happens when the person’s life ends in their own world.” I sat in silence as the information processed in my head. Akatosh simply continued to speak as I was quiet.  
“I hope that answer was suffient, and no, you cannot go back to where you came from. And as for your mother... she mourns you, but she won’t have to for too long.”_

_“So I’m…dead? I died?!” I asked in shock. I then recalled how my last memories of Earth was when I’d stumbled off of a cliff. I suppose that did make sense. It was still very hard to take in. On Earth, I am dead… I really wasn’t going to get home. My mom was be heartbroken. We only had each other and the dog, after all…_

_“I—...” I started to speak, not even sure of what to say. I then thought on the odd choice of wordage he’d used earlier. “Wait, what did you mean she doesn’t have long to mourn?” I asked with a skeptical glare directed at the God of Time._

_“Your world... Earth is doomed to cataclysm by year’s end. So you see, even if you’d survived your fall, you wouldn’t have had a home for long. I’m...so sorry. Truly, I am, little one.” Akatosh told me. He held me as I cried from the overwhelming information. Not only had I realized I was lost but my whole world was soon to follow. I don’t know how long I cried, it felt forever yet also not._

_I wiped my face and stopped my tears. I looked up at him. “Why tell me this at all? I could’ve... gone without knowing.”_

_Akatosh shook his head again. He tried to explain things to me simply. “Don’t you see, Isioma? You can’t change your past or what will happen to your world but you were given opportunity to do something grand. You viewed yourself no negatively in your own world, always afraid you couldn’t be anything of note. But here… You are special. You can be a hero.”_

_His words helped ease my sadness, albeit only slightly. It still saddened me beyond words at the revelations he told me of. But knowing that my life won’t just be a waste… it made me feel hopeful. I was still scared obviously, but I was determined to do my best. I suddenly had more questions since the important ones had been answered._

_“Oh, I need to ask… why can I do magic? Why’s it so much different here that the game?” I then thought, searching for anything else I needed to have resolved at the moment. “And also why does my phone work?”_

_Akatosh answered my queries easily. “We,” he said, I assumed alluding to the other divines, “had no say in you being brought here, but we could still offer you some aid. Being from a world with no magic, you needed to have an advantage when brought here. Therefore you have strong magical potential, even though you will need to train your skills. You also have been blessed with a divine bodily immunity. You won’t be able to catch any diseases or sicknesses here, even though in your own world you were a very sickly thing,” he told me. I felt pleased and thankful with that response. “—Hey, but I can get poisoned?” I asked in annoyance at remembering the spiders in Helgen. “Couldn’t have you know your strengths immediately and then get overzealous,” he’d replied with just as much snark as I’d given him._

_“To answer the other question, there so many differences because no matter how hard one tries, they can’t accurately depict another world,” he said before moving on to my final question I’d posed. “And your phone, along with your soul, have been stained from passing through the twilight. It is no longer restricted by things like a signal.” He told me. He then offered one final piece of information. “I must be going, but do no forget, Isioma, even little changes you made to a game, have real effects on the one you are in now,” he said. I didn’t understand what the last part meant right away. But it didn’t matter because he wouldn’t answer any more of my questions._

_After I’d finished pestering the damn dragon-god of time, I couldn’t remember what else happened. I’d drifted into a much deeper sleep, with no more nightmares._

It was morning by the time Isi would awaken. She’d slept far longer than she thought she would. She cleaned her face in a wash basin near the bed. After she did so, she could smell food. She followed the heavenly aroma into the dining room. Three plates of breakfast were situated on the table. The aforementioned breakfast consisted of eggs, porridge and berries. Lydia was the only one in the room aside from Isi. 

“Good morrow, my Thane. I trust you slept well?” Lydia asked.

“Hm? Yeah,” Isi muttered. She was still having trouble processing all of the information she’d received in her divinely interrupted dreams last night. Isi began to shovel food into her mouth. She paused and looked around, inquiring where her feline compatriot was, albeit muffled by the mouthful of food. To which the Nord explained that the Khajiit was busy taking a bath.

As Isi ate, she couldn’t help but notice she was being stared at by the housecarl. She raised an eyebrow at the Nord.

“Oh,” Lydia said sheepishly. “Pardon my staring. It’s just, last night when you went off to bed early, I’d asked Lord Caecus about your and his adventures. I mean, I’d known about Helgen and the watchtower, but I was curious about what you two did before, and how you met. So I asked him and… he said some interesting things about you.”

“...He did?” Isi asked. “Like what?”

“He said you practically fell out of the sky.. that the Gods brought you here from another world,” the housecarl told her mistress. “I’d thought he was drunk, since we’d been talking over some ale. But he sounded so certain. So I must know… you’re really from another world?”

“Well….” Isi started to say before pausing, “Yes… I am, but” she said with a sad sigh, “I’m never going to be able to go back. So Skyrim is my home now.” The upset little redguard then kept toying with her food.

“Oh… I’m so sorry,” Lydia said. 

The pair finished talking by the time Caecus came into the dining room. He sat down at the table and ate his food, his tail swaying. The trio were awkwardly quiet as they ate. It was a different energy, having Lydia around.

“So…” Cae said as he finished eating, “We have things to do today, yes?” He asked the smallest of the triad.

“Mhm. We’re going to have to go to High Hrothgar. And it’s gonna take… half a day,” Isi said, groaning the last part, “Ughhh,” she whined in a childish manner. She hated being in a world without cars.

“D-“ Lydia started to say before stifling a chuckle at her mistress’s tantrum. “Don’t get upset. I’m sure we can get a horse from the stables and a cart, that way we won’t have to walk ourselves the whole way there. Would that suffice?”

“Yes,” Isi said with a faint pout.

“Great, now we should start to pack. Yes? A 12-hour trip could be very exhausting, we’ll need food, drink and of course weapons,” said the housecarl.

“Let’s go shopping then,” said Caecus as he stood up and went to go get his satchel. He then led the two women outside and headed to the marketplace. 

The odd-looking triad peruses the marketplace for supplies. Thanks to the gossiping of the city’s guards, word of Isi and Cae’s new status traveled quickly. After a quick shopping spree, the trio had acquired a large supply of food and drink at a discounted price, along with some warmer clothing since they would be traveling up a mountain eventually. Once they’d gotten everything that they would need, they made their way outside of the city gates.

The three walked down to the stables and were able to get a horse and cart for a reasonable price. They loaded up the cart with sacks of neat and bottles of various beverages. Lydia took the reigns on the horse, letting her Thanes ride in the cart as they began to disembark for their journey.

Before they got far, Isi found herself thinking about what was told to her in her dream the previous night. Changes she made will effect the world around her? She thought in confusion. Suddenly it hit her, what that could mean. Mods! She had mods installed when she used to play the game. She reached into her satchel and hurriedly flipped through her phone. She had always had a list of the various modifications that she installed, saved in her notes. There were random ones like adding better graphics, but what caught her eye were Follower mods. She let out a slight gasp. Does this mean her mods would be… real people, here? That spurred some majorly conflicting feelings within her. She read through the list of her follower mods, to see who all she had installed. Luckily there were only two: Kaidan and Inigo. She sighed, she couldn’t help feeling guilty/responsible for these people. She would have to free them at some point, of course. 

“What is troubling you?” Caecus asked as he poked his distracted friend.  
“Oh, it’s kind of complicated,” Isi said.  
“We’ve got plenty of time to talk.”  
“...Fine. I’ll try to explain,” said the little woman. She tried to gather her thoughts and figure out how to explain Mods to her friend. Meanwhile Lydia kept leading the cart to Ivarstead.


	21. Long Roads and High Mountains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our traveling triad makes the trip long trip to Ivarstead

The journey to Ivarstead was a very boring one. The first half of the trip, Isioma and Caecus mainly stayed in the back of the cart. The noveau-nobles had been talking to each other for a while of time. Eventually the two fell asleep, lulled by the rough rocking of the cart. Meanwhile their housecarl kept driving towards Ivarstead. The Nord woman been listening to them earlier. The pair had been talking of things she didn’t understand, but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed what she deemed a challenge, two very peculiar people with exciting pasts. 

Lydia wanted to be a good housecarl. She wanted to put herself on the line for her Thanes. This currently meant being exhausted as she drove the horse cart for several hours without a break. She kept going until she simply couldn’t anymore. She pulled over in a clearing of land and untied the horse to let it graze. She then laid down on the driver’s seat of the cart for a quick nap. Just a quick one. While Lydia slept, the taller of the pair in the back of the cart had awoken.

Caecus sat up and stretched. He rubbed his eyes, getting a bit of crust out of them. He realized that they were no longer on the move. He noticed the sound of two snoring people. He could sense Lydia had fallen asleep. He climbed out of the back and went around front, urging us housecarl to get into the bed of the cart and take a proper sleep. The tired Nord protested, barely awake but didn’t object as the Khajiit forced her to lay down beside Isi. When the housecarl plopped down next to her, it startled to smaller woman awake. Isi jolted upright with a small squeak before calming down. She then yawned and stretched as she climbed out of the cart.

“What’s goin’ on?” The groggy redguard inquired.

“Lydia is very tired. We can drive the rest of the way, yes?” Caecus responded.

Isi was going to object because she doesn’t know how to steer a horse and Cae said see. But then she realized that he was clearly going to be pulling the reigns while she acted as his eyes. “Sure. Yeah, we can do this,” she said as she climbed onto seat.

The two worked together, making an for awkward tandem driving experience. Isi’s directions were rather unhelpful since she can’t read the roadsigns. Cae wasn’t much better since he can’t feel the ground in a cart, driving is definitely not good for him. But neither of them had the heart the disrupt Lydia’s rest. The Nord had taken them so far, she needed the break.

After a very uncoordinated and rickety start, the two eventually got the hang of controlling the horse. They worked together, driving the cart for what few hours it took to get the rest of the way to the village. Eventually Ivarstead finally came into view. It was late at night when the trio arrived in the rundown village. Not wanting to dare scaling her down he mountain that looms over them, at night, the two parked the cart at the local inn. 

Once the horse was stabled, the Khajiit decided to wake up the Nord in their cart. “Lydia. We’re here. Let’s go find some actual beds for the night and we’ll just make the climb in the morning,” Caecus said.

Lydia offered no objections and followed her charges into the inn, carrying a supply bag as she walked. 

The three travelers entered the inn, trying to not make too much noise. Their arrival earned a surprised gaze from the innkeeper. The innkeep was a balding Nordic man who had been nodding off at the counter before the trio arrived. He stood tall and cleared his throat. “Welcome to Vilemyr Inn. I’m Wilhelm, eh... you lot travelers?” He inquired as he eyed their baggage. 

“Actually, we’re going to make the um... pilgrimage, tomorrow. Up the mountain? Can we rest hear til morning?” Isi asked as she poked her head over the too-tall counter. 

“Aye? Hm, well I suppose even the _strangest_ of visitors can appreciate taking a trip up the 7,000 steps,” said Wilhelm. “I’m afraid we don’t have many rooms available though. You aren’t the only pilgrims to come out here around this time of year. Best I can give is a single room, with two beds,” the man explained.

“It’s fine,” said Caecus as he tossed some coins onto the counter. 

After receiving the pay, Wilhelm led the trio to their room. Inside it were two somewhat small beds. The inkeep left the group alone after telling them to just call if they needed anything.

Working out the sleeping arrangements was a bit of a hassle, as both Caecus and Lydia took up much bedspace, meaning Isi would be squished no matter which one of them she bunked with. The little woman opted on bedding with the female, leaving Cae in the bed across from them. The two Thanes were already ready to nap but had to wait for their housecarl to peel off her armor before climbing into bed. The room felt crowded with all three of them in there, but they all felt greatful that there wasn’t just a singular bed. None of them would’ve been able to sleep if that were the case.

The following morning, the sun rose over the village of Ivarstead. Warmth crept in through a window, cradling a slumbering trio of adventurers. It brought comfort from the chill that nearby mountain brought down to the village over in the night. The first of the three to rise was the youngest of the bunch. Isi awoke with a yawn and she attempted to stretch but found that she couldn’t. A big strong arm was holding her in place. Much to the girl’s dismay, Lydia was holding onto her tightly, like the redguard was serving as a replacement teddy bear. Isi groaned and squirmed, eventually wiggling free of the Nordic woman’s grip. Once free she carefully climbed out of bed and pulled on her trusty hiking boots. She then wandered into the main area of the Inn. The Inn was rather small and empty, unlike in Whiterun. There was hardly anyone in the room, save for two teenagers who were canoodling in a corner, whispering something about eloping.

Isi ignored the two young lovers and made her way to the counter, looking for the innkeeper. Wilhelm, the aforementioned inkeep, was sitting down behind the counter, reading a book. He didn’t notice the girl right away, since her head barely pokes over the top of the counter. He eventually noticed her, accompanied by a short hearty laugh. “Oh good morn’, little mouse,” he chuckled. “Sorry if Ol’ Wil here didn’t see ya, you’re shorter than a damn Breton,” Wilhelm said as he stood from his seat. He came around the counter to see his guest properly. He eyed her for a moment. She was clearly a redguard, albeit on the lighter side of them, but she definitely didn’t have the stature of one. Maybe she’s of mixed stock, he pondered momentarily. “Now, what can I do for a pretty little girl like you, hm?”

Isi was annoyed by his attitude towards her. She huffed and grumbled, earning a mildly confused chuckle from the old man, before responding. “I just want some breakfast. And maybe some winter clothes— er, something to wear for snow? I know that it’s gets colder the higher up you go as you climb the mountain. I’m not exactly built for the cold,” Isi said punctuated by a slight shiver that ran through her as someone entered the inn. “Aye, I’ll fix ya some food and see if I can find you an old parka,” Wilhelm said. He then glanced towards the person who just entered the inn. “Morn’ Klimmek, catch a lot?” 

Isi turned to see the man who’d came in. She recalls him to be the man who makes the supply run up the mountain, though she only recognized him in name since he looks different in actuality. Klimmek is a Nord, of course, with thinning hair though he wasn’t as old-looking as Wilhelm. He had a fishing line and several fish strung up in his hands.

“Was a good catch. I’ll have enough to eat for a day or two. I’ll be preserving the rest, of course,” stated Klimmek. He tossed a fish to Wilhelm and asked him to cook that one for now, which the man obliged to.

While Wilhelm was busy fixing food, Isi wandered to a table and sat by herself. She heard footsteps come from an adjacent room and saw that Lydia and Caecus were awake now too. The two joined Isi at the table. 

“Good morning,” Caecus said followed by a loud yawn. This caused a short chain of yawns from the two women. “Big day,” Cae said with a little chuckle.

“I’m excited, and honored that I get to escort you two up to High Hrothgar. I’ve been hearing rumors and stories about the greybeards since I was young. It would be amazing to see them,” Lydia said with a little smile.

“Mhm, well we’re gonna have to get up there first, Lydia,” Isi said. “I’m not looking forward to the climbing. Or the cold.” 

“I second that,” Caecus replied, “I’m not fond of snow either. My paws get frozen after a while,” he admitted with a little huff. 

“You three’re going up the 7,000 steps?” asked Klimmek, who just walked over to the table of the trio.

“...Yes, why?” asked Cae.

“Well I just go happen to need to make a run up there, but,” Klimmek said as he rubbed his leg, groaning quietly, “heh, bad legs from going there so much. Could you three take the supplies up for me? I could pay you.”

“Oh, no payment’s needed,” said Lydia, “we’ll gladly do it for free. We’re going up anyway,” she said. Isi internally complained about the turning down of extra money. The housecarl put the supplies with their own, in the room they’d slept in.

By the time she came back, Wilhelm had a spread of food on the table, enough for all three. The food was eggs and some form of bird, pheasant maybe? It took a little while for the trio to finish eating everything. When they were done, they paid Wilhelm for the meal.

“Thank you,” Lydia said as she was the one to pay.

“No trouble, we don’t get many visitors so we’re happy to cater to travelers,” said Wilhelm, “Oh! Before you go, take this.” He said as he walked off quickly and returned with what looked like an old parka. “For the little mouse,” he said. “Heh, we don’t have much here. Only one her size was an old one that a local girl had a few years ago. It’s a bit ratty but still useable.”

Lydia fought the urge to fuss at the man for addressing her thane in a disrespectful manner. She packed up all the supplies and headed off with Isi and Cae. The trio walked to the edge of town and then stopped.

“You two should put on the warm stuff before we climb,” Lydia said. She then gave Isi the parka they’d got from Wilhelm. It was made of leathers and fox fur. Meanwhile, Caecus put on a heavy leather jacket. One fully prepped for the snow, the three began the climb up the mountain.

The trek to High Hrothgar was very tiring and troublesome. The monotony of walking was periodically broken by Lydia, who read the stone emblems for her Thanes since neither of them are able to do so. After walking for a very long time, they were still only halfway there. By this time, everyone’s legs were feeling very tired. They sat down briefly to relax their muscles. The winds howled up here. Isi rubbed her hands together furiously. She grumbled to herself. She tried for a while to focus really hard on getting her heat up. Eventually, much to the delight of the group, she managed to cast a flame spell, orange magic flowing from her palms and forming into flames. She warmed herself and her cat friend, since Lydia wasn’t bothered by the chilly air. The Nord also wasn’t keen on magic use, but would not admit so to the others. Once sufficiently toasty, they continued making their way up the massive staircase. 

When the trio turned a corner on the mountain path, they all stopped in their tracks. There was a large beast with three eyes, sitting overhead on an outstretched portion of rock— a frost troll. The monstrous creature jumped down from its perch and roared out. It came ready to attack. Fearful yet determined to not turn back, the three fought with the troll. Isi was at the back, using her fire magic to weaken the beast, while her large friends fought it closer, Lydia doing most of the work though because Cae could not see well as his feet were numb once more. The troll was eventually felled, the trio taking a moment to breathe now that they weren’t in danger anymore.

After all that walking, there thankfully was no more trouble ahead. Their previous agitation was eased as they listened to the history lessons Lydia recited from the messages written on stones. Soon the three made it to the monastery. They were finally where they needed to be. Once there, Lydia hauled Klimmek’s supply bag into the offering chest that sat in front of the monastery. The trio then climbed the last bit of stairs and went up to the larges stone doors. With a hard push, Lydia forced the door to open.


	22. High Hrothgar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally inside of High Hrothgar, it is time for the trio to meet the Greybeards
> 
> How will these monks greet them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/24: Thanks for 2,000 hits!!

High Hrothgar was an oddly calm place. It gave a slight chill to the body, the odd stillness one might feel when inside an empty church. Fitting, as this is a monastery, after all. The main room of the monastery was dimly lit, scatterings of candles illuminating the stony interior of the building. Four elderly men donned in blue-grey robes were huddled in the center of the room. They were discussing in hushed tones the odd occurrence they had sensed the day previous. They knew that the Dragonborn had been awakened, but they could sense that there was more than one of them. Strange...

The whisperings of the old men were disrupted as the heavy stone door of the monastery was forced open. The thin, cold air swept into the room. Out of the cold stepped three young souls. Two of these people were who they’d been waiting for, for oh so long.

One of the Greybeards stepped forward, greeting the trio. His expression was mostly unreadable, save a twitch in his brow as he beheld them. His composure was quickly regained as began to speak to them.  
“Such a unique arrangement has gathered today...” he remarked. “Not just one, but two of the dragonblood, appearing at this moment in the turning of the age.”

The two Dragonborn stepped forward slightly, glancing at each other before one of them addressed the man.

“Yes. Your summons is what brought us here, Arngeir,” said the smaller of the two, Isi. She pulled the hood of her parka down, her messy hair springing slightly as it was freed from its prison.  
The other of the pair, Caecus, then spoke. “We are the Dragonborn,” he said, tilting his head down towards the man’s face. Meanwhile their housecarl just watched from slightly afar, sitting down in a nearby seat as her thanes spoke with the man.

Arngeir’s eyes narrowed slightly. Inwardly he felt perplexed by the two in front of him. A strange young woman who somehow already knows name, and the other was clearly blind. For a split moment he would internally question if these were who they actually needed. He shook his head slightly before he spoke. “First, we must see if you truly _are_ the ones we believe you to be....” Arngeir said in a manner that felt somewhat rude. “If it is true, then let me taste of your voice, both of you.”

The two were a tad hesitant, since they’d never shouted at a person before. This hesitation prompted the old monk to speak again. “Do not be afraid. Strike me with your Voice.”

Not wanting to keep the man waiting, they quickly mustered up the courage. They each took a deep breath before Shouting.

 _**“Fus!”**_ They shouted simultaneously, the force of their voices pushing the old man backwards but not toppling him.

“Incredible, so it is true. Astonishing,” the old man said as he looked at the two. He bowed slightly. “My name—“ he lifted his head and cast a side eyed glance at Isi, “as you know, is Master Arngeir.” He then stood up once more. “I speak for the Greybeards.” He then walked towards the pair, shaking their hands. “Welcome to High Hrothgar. We are greatly honored to have not just one, but two Dragonborn in our midst. This is truly an incredible day. We will do our best to teach you how to use your gifts in fulfillment of your destiny."

“Destiny?” Caecus asked abruptly, his brow furrowed slightly. 

“Yes... but is it for you to discover, we offer only a path, not the destination, young man,” Arngeir said, providing insufficient answer to Caecus.

“—We have to kill Alduin,” Isi said quietly, a frown on her face as she looked up at Arngeir, internally cursing his lack of helpfulness right now.

“....True,” Arngeir said with a sigh, “as Dragonborn, you must one day face the world-eater.” He began to walk away as he spoke. “You have shown that you are Dragonborn. You have the inborn gift, and the apparent knowledge of your fate. But do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen... Thanks to you two being of the dragon blood, you have the unborn ability to speak the dragon tongue, their shouts. You’ve already learned one Word of Power— All Shouts are comprised of three. With each word you learn—“  
“Your shout becomes stronger, blah blah blah. Force, Balance, Push— we get it. Can we learn the next word now?” Isi said, interrupting the man, a tad frustrated from hearing things she already knows.

“Wh- A hasty thing, you are. And yet...very knowledgeable,” Arngeir said with a skeptical glance over the girl’s body. “Very well. I will have Master Einrath teach you two the next word in your Unrelenting Force shout...”

Master Einrath, one of the other Greybeards, whispered onto the stone floor, script in the dragon language appearing on the floor. The words gave an orange glow. 

“Touch Einrath’s words and learn Ro, balance,” instructed Arngeir. 

Isi and Cae glanced at each other and then crouched to the ground, touching the word with their hands, their fingers running across the ethereal etchings. As they did so, they could hear that familiar whispering fill their heads. Learning this word felt very different than when they’d absorbed it from the dragon, this was a much colder feeling. With this and the knowledge that Einrath projected into them, soon they’d fully learned the word ‘Ro’.

“Now that you’ve absorbed the word, let us see how well you can use it,” Arngeir said, “strike the targets as they appear, all right?”

The duo then watched as the Greybeards summoned spectral dummies for them to practice on. The testing went quickly, Isi and Cae were both very good with their new shout, using the new word with ease. Everything went pretty smoothly, aside from the gratuitous shaking that the echoing of their voices caused. Lydia was enthralled by watching them use the ancient powers. The Nordic woman gave a short applause, which made the two dragonborn chuckle slightly.

After they’d shown their skill with Ro, Arngeir asked everyone to head into the courtyard area of the monastery. The chilly air upset the two Dragonborn once they’d gotten outside again. Once they’d readjusted to the cold, Arngeir began to tell them of their next lesson.

“We will now see how you learn a completely new Shout. Master Borri will teach you two Wuld, which means whirlwind,” said Arngeir. He then stepped aside as Borri approached the pair. 

Master Borri did the same thing Einrath had done earlier, speaking onto the ground, his words manifesting out of nothingness. Isi and Cae in turn repeated the process of feeling the word and learning from it. As Borri shared his wisdom, the two learned ‘Wuld’ fully.

“Now that you’ve learned the word, let us see how well you can use it. Stand between these pillars here and we will test you abilities.” Arngeir said as he gestured to two stone pillars in the ground. One of the other Greybeards has been standing there first and used the shout. He suddenly flew forward in a rush of wind. He’d ran faster than anyone could see, passing through a gate that Borri had opened.

Isi was apprehensive about this new shout but was the first to stand in place. She stared ahead at the large gate ahead of her. She glanced at Master Arngeir nervously. “Just do as you saw and you will be fine,” the old man said to her assuringly.

Isi braced herself and then shouted. **“Wuld!”** she said loudly. In a fast blur she was flown forward, her legs shaking as she tried not to stumble as she skidded to a halt at the other end of the gate. She turned around to look back at the others. She let out a breathless giggle and jumped slightly. “That was awesome!” She said suddenly. The feeling of running at the inhuman speed was exhilarating. “Your turn now,” she called out to her fluffy friend.  
Caecus moved between the pillars. He followed what Isi had done, shouting ‘Wuld’, running forward at incredible speed. He hadn’t been careful in his actions and crashed into his diminutive companion. The two fell down onto the snow. The Khajiit was laughing softly. “That _was_ fun!” He exclaimed. He looked down at the girl squished beneath him, a sheepish expression on his face. “Sorry for falling on you,” he muttered before standing up and helping her to her feet.

The pair looked mildly embarrassed about the clumsy accident. Nobody else seemed to mind much. Master Arngeir gave a slight chuckle at their previous excitement. “Your quick mastery of a new Thu'um is astonishing. I'd heard the stories of the abilities of Dragonborn, but to see it for myself..." Arngeir said, staring at them in awe. He chuckled once more. “It tickles the soul to see how easy it is for you two,” he said.

"Thanks?” Isi said with an awkward smile.  
“We don’t mean to be so easily skilled,” Caecus said in sheepish modesty, “it just happens.”

“You were given this gift by the Gods for a reason. It’s up to both of you, to determine how best to use it,” Arngeir said to them. “Now, onto your last trail.” The old Nord walked over to the duo. “The horn of our founder, Jurgen Windcaller, is sealed away in Ustengrav. Retrieve it for us. Remain true to the way of the voice and I’m certain you’ll return safely. When you return, you will be rewarded.”

“We’ll get the horn as soon as we can,” Isi said as she stood next to Cae, who nodded in. Agreement. “Yes,” he said, “but before we go, I had a question.” 

“Oh? Of course, ask away, young man,” Arngeir said.

Caecus glanced around briefly, scanning the courtyard with his magesight. “There’s... really only four of you, up on this mountain?” He asked curiously. “Or are my sense off?” He added as he directed his focus back to Arngeir.

“You are not far off, my son. There are actually five of us. Our leader, Paarthurnax, lives alone on the peak of the Throat of the World. But you may only speak to him when your Voice can open the path,” Arngeir explained.

“But why’s he live up there? Surely there’s more you can tell,” Caecus persisted. 

Arngeir huffed, frowning slightly. “There is indeed much that we know that you do not. That does not mean that you are ready to understand it. Do not let your easy mastery of the Voice tempt you into arrogance of power that has been the downfall of many Dragonborn before you,” he retorted. “Now go, you two have a long way to be going and shouldn’t dally with unimportant questions, you know,” the old man said in a defensive tone.

“But I— ...Fine, we’ll go. We’ll come back when we have the horn. Goodbye,” Caecus huffed as he tugged Isi by the arm and trudged back to the front door of the monastery.

Lydia had been waiting by this point. She was at the front door. She ushered her Thanes out outside.  
“Ready to head back down?” She inquired.

“Yes,” the two answered.

The trio left thusly. They had began to walk back down when the littlest of the group suddenly recalled that she can use magic to get them down faster. Overly eager to get off this cold mountain as soon as possible, Isi used all of her energy and focused on the feeling she’d felt when she used this spell on accident before.

“Let’s get back to the inn,” Isi said.

The teleportation spell was easier to do now that she actually intended to do so. The mana flowed from her freely. The etherial tendrils of mana tickled at her skin. She felt Caecus grab her hand and saw the magical glow envelope him too. She looked to her housecarl. Lydia was clearly apprehensive but she took her hand as well. Once all three of them joined hands, they were fully covered in the glow. In a flash of blinding light, they were gone.


	23. Sidetracked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our traveling adventurers leave Ivarstead and wake way for a prison. Therein they find a black haired man with a mysterious sword...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy the chapter 
> 
> Please leave a heart if you liked it

Vilemyr Inn was having slow business as there were still not many travelers in Ivarstead. There were only about six people inside, namely townsmen who came here to drink. The villagers were lazily chatting to each other when suddenly a strange feeling filled the air. In the middle of the Inn appeared a large glowing mass of raw magicka, which quickly dissipated, having spat a displaced trio of adventurers into the room. 

All three members of the group groaned as they’d hit the floor rather roughly. They laid there grumbling for a moment.

“That was worse than last time,” Caecus huffed as he looked toward the little mage who’d dropped them here.

“Hey shut up, it’s harder than it looks,” Isi huffed, “plus I’ve never done it with more than two people before. I’m sure I’ll get better at it eventually….” she said as she stood up and dusted herself off. Isi noticed the townspeople staring in shock at what happened in front of them. “Damn mages,” she heard one of the villagers say.

“...Uh, sorry for popping in?” Isi said as she cast an awkward yet meaningless smile. 

Lydia stood to her feet, huffing as she did so. She stretched and rubbed her head. She mumbled some curses under her breath. She then looked to her diminutive Thane. “Since we’re back here now… we should be packing, right, Lady Isioma?”

Isi directed her attention to Lydia. She nodded her head. “Yeah— but not to go to Ustengrav,” she said.

“Eh, why?” inquired Caecus as he peeled off the heavy coat he’d been wearing when they were on the mountain.

“We’ve gotta make stops first. _Then_ we can go there,” Isi said, “I mean, they’ve waited this long for it. A day or two more won’t hurt.” Isi then shuffled to their room as she yanked off her parka.

“Oh? Well where to?” Cae inquired, following behind her.

“Well…” she said, trailing off as she sat down on the bed, “We’ve gotta go...get some friends out of jail.

“Friends?” Cae asked, raising an eyebrow. “What friends?—“ he said before remembering what she might mean, “Ohhh, those two you mentioned on the cart ride yesterday? What did you call them again?”

“Mods. Yeah,” Isi replied. 

Their housecarl then entered the room. Lydia closed the door behind her as she started to pack up the bit of supplies that they had. She looked at the two in confusion at overhearing their conversation. “What’s a mod?” she inquired.

“Oh,” Isi said as she looked at Lydia, “well, it’s a term from… ya know, my homeland,” she explained. She wasn’t sure how to explain this to the housecarl. She knew that the woman knew of her being from a different world, but she hadn't had time to explain the situation of Skyrim being a game. “A mod is, basically put, something or someone that was created….to make a life more interesting.” She saw the confusion in her housecarl’s face. She sighed quietly. “I’ll tell you more about it in detail some other time. But all you need to know right now is that there’s two Mods— two people, that we need to go find. They’re both men...in jail. We’ve got to break them out.”

“Wh— ….I can’t say I approve of jailbreaks, but if you’re certain,” Lydia responded hesitantly. She wasn’t pleased but would do as her Thane requests.

“Yeah I’m certain,” Isi said. “I can’t just leave them where they are. So we’ve gotta do it.”

“Where are these jails?” Cae asked.

“Oh, ones in Riften but the other one should be closer to us if I recall,” Isi replied, “I’m not sure— I’ll need to see a map.”

Lydia promptly retrieved a map from one of the bags and handed it to Isi. The younger woman looked at the map for a solid minute before remembering that she can’t read the language. She felt embarrassed as she looked at her housecarl with a sheepish expression. “Um, tell me where we are? I… forgot I can’t read,” Isi mumbled. Lydia rolled her eyes but obliged. She pointed to a spot on the map. “Here. Ivarstead,” the Nord stated.  
Isi scanned the map. She knew she’d know what she was looking for when she saw it. She then pointed at a spot where a little jail symbol was marked. “We need to go there,” Isi said.  
Lydia looked at the location. “Oh? I know that place. It’s abandoned…. That’s really where your friend will be?” Lydia asked, to which Isi gave a quick nod of the head. 

Once that was settled, the three finally got ready to leave. They loaded their supplies onto their cart and then began to leave the village. Soon they were on the open road again. It was time to head to prison.

The distance from Ivarstead to the prison was not very bad. It was just a few short hours. The sun was tilted as it beamed down on the three travelers, showing that the time was late afternoon by now. 

The trio of adventurers eventually came across the spot where the jail is. They all climbed out of the horse cart. Isi looked at the prison, which was separated from her and her friends by a river. “This is definitely the place,” she said as she glanced at her companions. “Let’s be careful and keep our weapons at our sides.” she instructed, “I’m sure that it’s gonna be trouble freeing him from here.” Her companions did as she’d told, grabbing swords and preparing for danger.

“We’ll save him,” Caecus said as he tightened his satchel and situated his sword onto his hip. The Khajiit faced the water and huffed quietly. He groaned as he stepped into the water. “Let’s hurry across,” he instructed as he waded through the river. They went across, one by one. Thankfully the water wasn’t very deep.

Once they made it across, Lydia forced the heavy old door open. The trio entered the decrepit prison and closed the door behind them. “It’s so dark in here,” Lydia mumbled to herself. “Oh what a pity, being unable to see,” Caecus said in an annoyed tone. “..my apologies,” replied the Nord in an awkward whisper.

Not seeing anyone around, the three carefully walked down a spiral staircase. The feline of the group quietly voiced his discomfort from the flooded flooring they found themselves upon after they’d left the stairs. The room they were now in was slightly flooded, yet there were fresh torches lit in the corners. Someone was definitely here recently. As they rounded the corner, they froze in place. At the end of the hall sat a high elf with its head down. It was a Thalmor agent, donned in golden armor which melded against the yellow skin the elf possessed. 

The trio silently plotted their next move. Caecus decided to move first. Despite his stature, he could move rather silently. The elf was currently sleeping. The Khajiit tiptoed his way towards the Altmer and with a quick movement of a dagger, he slit the elf’s throat as it’d slept. The sickly sound of torn flesh and spilled blood was almost too much for the women who’d witnessed it. The catman huffed at their reaction and motioned for the two to keep moving.

The group pressed on. They soon came across a collection of cells that lined a long hall. Most of the cells were empty, save for one. Candles dimly lit the cell, not offering much view. In the dim light, they could see that in one of the musty cells was a person chained to the wall. The figure didn’t move much, but wasn’t dead since ragged breathing could be heard. The door of the cell was open, and so the trio ran in the rescue the prisoner.

The littlest of the three froze up as she looked at the man chained to the wall. Not quite as tall as the two companions she already has, but clearly just as strong judging by his body. Her superficial thoughts were pushed aside as she looked over his form. He was bloody and bruised, his head downcast as his long hair covered his face. He was… barely breathing. It made her feel awful.

“This is the man, yes?” Caecus asked as he blindly began to feel towards the man. “Yes,” Isi replied, “it’s him.” Their housecarl chimed in, saying, “Let’s get him then.” As they spoke, the battered prisoner lifted his head. His dark red eyes focused onto the people in front of him. 

“When I get out of here, I’ll kill you all myself…” he said in a hoarse voice. 

“Wh- no, no!” Isi said in a quick response. “We aren’t…. them. We’re going to break you out,” she explained.

“Yes, this is a rescue,” Caecus said as he stepped closer to the man. The prisoner’s eyes widened at the words. “You aren’t Thalmor? Well— hurry! Unchain up me before those bastards come back in h—“ he said, his words cut short as he looked up at the Khajiit who was now picking the locks of his shackles. He looked shocked as he got a good look at the cat’s eyes. “Wait a minute, you’re blind??” Caecus only growled quietly in response.

“Yes he is, but he’s definitely the best at this stuff,” Isi said as she watched Cae pick the locks with relative ease.

Soon enough the shackles came unlocked. The prisoner’s weight forced them open. His balance was unsteady and he fell forward onto the tall beastman in front of him. Caecus let out a heavy sigh as he felt the battered man in his arms. The man’s skin was slick, coated in blood and sweat. The scent offended the cat’s sensitive nose. He was eventually able to stand on his own, albeit unsteadily.

“Ugh….You three are life savers,” the newly freed man said as he stood there. “What’re your names? I think it best to address my saviors properly,” he said with a weak chuckle. 

“I’m Isi,” said the smallest of the group. She then gestured to her fluffy comrade. “He’s Caecus and this,” she said as she pointed to the Nordic woman, “is Lydia.”

“Kaidan,” the ex-prisoner said. “It’s great to meet you three. Heh… i would’ve been stuck here for I don’t know how long, if you weren’t here.”

“It’s no trouble,” Isi said. She looked Kaidan up and down, sighing quietly. “You look really hurt… I can try to heal you if you’d let me,” she said.

“Oh, you’re a healer?” Kaidan asked curiously. He then walked in front of the little woman and let her get to work.

“More or less,” she muttered. “Hold still,” she said. She then focused hard, praying she could actually help him. Soon her hands began to glow a golden hue. She carefully pressed a hand against Kaidan’s bruised chest. The golden light spread over his body. He let out an involuntary shudder of relief as his bruises and cuts began to vanish. Once he was healed, he leaned down and patted Isi on her head. “Quite a gift, you have. Thank you,” he said.

Caecus abruptly gave Kaidan a light shove away from the diminutive redguard. He cleared his throat. “Yes well now that you’re safe and healed. We should be leaving, yes?” The Khajiit asked as he ‘stared down’ the shorter man.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and huffed at the cat’s behavior. He walked over to a corner of his cell that held a rag. He began to wipe the blood off of his body. “Actually, no, not yet,” he said. 

“Why?” Lydia inquired. She looked a bit upset, yet confused. She didn’t get what could possibly be so important to keep them in this musty, dark jail. 

“It’s just one more thing,” Kaidan began to explain, “one of the Thalmor got his hands on my sword.” He saw the bothered expressions that the two tallest individuals had. He sighed quietly. “I know I’ve got no right to ask, but I could use your help getting it back.”

“How can some sword be so important?,” Caecus chimed in with a huff. 

“This isn’t me being sentimental,” Kaidan retorted with a groan. He composed himself and then continued his thought, “They kept asking about it. If it’s important to them, then they shouldn’t have it.”

“Fair enough,” Caecus said, Lydia nodding in agreement.

“Yes, we’ll help you get your sword,” Isi said. She quickly glanced Kaidan over again. “And maybe they’ll have your clothes? Armor?” She said in an awkward tone. Kaidan had been in very tattered pants this whole time. It was certainly a distraction for those in the room who could see it. 

“Yeah,” Kaidan said with a weak chuckle. He then motioned for everyone to follow him. “Now come on, I know which way I saw the other Thalmor headed. Further into the jail, this way”, he said as he pointed out the path.

The group, now a quartet, headed through the halls of the jail. Caecus and Lydia were at the head since the other two would definitely be weaker in a fight. As they all went up a staircase, they ran into one of the Thalmor. Cae was first to react, his claws extended on reflex. He slashed the Justicar in the face, forcing him to stumble backwards. The Altmer was not pleased and lunged blindly at the ground. Lydia drew her sword and impaled the elf as he had moved forward. She grunted as she pulled the now dead man off of her blade.

“Bloody bastard had it coming,” Kaidan said as they walked fully into the room, stepping over the corpse.

In the room was a locked chest. Caecus went over and quickly picked the lock. He pulled out some clothing, armor and a sword. “I take it these are yours?” He inquired as he held up the items.

“Yes! Thank you,” Kaidan said. “Now I can finally get out of these rags,” he muttered as he grabbed the hem of his pants. He stopped himself and glanced at the others in the room. “Mind turning around so I can get some proper clothes on?” He asked in a slightly embarrassing tone.

The women quickly turned around, the smaller one covering her eyes. The Khajiit however just shrugged. “Blind. Remember?” He said, waving a hand in front of his own face for emphasis.

“...Right,” Kaidan said. He huffed as he got dressed in his clothes. He then pulled his armor on and tied his sword to his hip. “Okay, you can turn back ‘round now,” he said.

Once the girls turned around, they got to see Kaidan looking much better. The man was dressed in full gray body armor with an odd sword on his side. He looked happier now that he was looking like himself again.

“Thank you all again. I don’t know how I can repay you for rescuing me,” Kaidan said. He looked at himself. “And for letting me get my armor and sword back. They’re practically a second skin, ya know?”

“What’s so special about your sword anyway,” Caecus asked with a raised brow.

“The question on everyone’s mind, even mine,” Kaidan replied. “The sword belonged to my mother. I never knew her, but it's the only real clue I have to who she was.”

Caecus paused briefly and sighed. “Heh, well that’s as good a reason as any to keep it around. Never knew mind either,” he said with a sympathetic little smile. He straightened up a bit. “You’re welcome by the way,” he retorted as he pointed towards Isi, “but Isioma here deserves the credit. She’s the one who told us to come here.”

“Aye?” Kaidan asked as he shot s quick glance at the little woman before looking back at the cat.

“Mhm. She… well she’s got a gift, you could say. She’s very bright and can see certain things about the future or when someone may need help,” Caecus said, trying not to get too into detail about the aforementioned ‘gifts.’

“Truly?” Kaidan asked, now looking a bit surprised. His face then turned to that of determination as he turned to face Isi. He bent down on his knee as he looked at her. “I owe _you_ my life then,” he told her. “I’m not a man who’s comfortable being in debt.” He held onto her hand as he spoke. “If you ever have need of me, I’d be glad to fight alongside you until that debt is repaid, Miss Isioma.”

Isi felt flustered by the actions and was slightly shaky for a moment. She was red at the ears. “It’s really no trouble,” she said before she paused briefly. “But… if you wanna repay whatever debt you feel you owe. We could always use another partner in our team.”

“I’d be honored,” Kaidan said as he stood up. 

The group of adventurers headed out of the prison with their newest member. Kaidan was rather silent as they walked back through the jail. He eyed the corpses of the elves they passed. The claw marks and dagger gashes made him feel just a hint wary of the Khajiit in their company. But he couldn’t complain much. He seemed protective of the little redguard, so he clearly has good in him, despite his obvious dangerous capabilities. No time to worry about that though. After all, he helped save his life.

Eventually, the group made it outside again. The sunlight warmed them, which was a relief from the coldness of the prison.

“Ah, it feels good to feel the sun again,” Kaidan said in a quiet voice as he stretched.

The group crossed the river and went back to where they left their horse. Lydia had everyone get into the cart and then she made the horse get moving. As they road onto the road again, the three in the back of the cart decided to strike up conversation.

“So, what happened with the eh… Thalmor?” Caecus asked curiously.

Kaidan briefly tensed at the mention of those high elves, but soon relaxed with a sigh. “I suppose you’re owned a bit of explanation, eh? With you having saved me and all,” he said. He then began to tell his story. “I was only trying to cross the border into Pale Pass. In the meantime, I’ve made many picking up bounties…” he explained as he trailed off briefly, “I suppose I drew too much attention to myself. I was camping by a lake when they ambushed me. Damned Thalmor don’t need much evidence to bring in suspects. They took one look at my sword and thought me a good target for their “interrogation,” he said with a slight scowl. He shook his head. “They dragged me off to that prison right after.”

Isi spoke up, feeling bad. “That must’ve been terrifying… getting kidnapped and jailed over nothing.”

Kaidan looked at her and nodded slightly. He gave a weak smirk. “A little fear, I can handle.” His expression then went downcast. “But honestly… there were moments when I thought it might be the end for me. I knew they wouldn’t ever let me go…” He then forced a smile onto his face. “Heh, but I have you lot to thank for my freedom.” 

Then conversation trailed off for a while, Kaidan helping himself to what bit of meat they had in the cart. Eventually he began to speak again. “Where’re we headed?” He inquired.

“Oh, we’ve got another poor soul to rescue,” Caecus said as he nudged Isi’s shoulder, “right?”

Isi nodded her head. “Yeah. In Riften. But if it’s too long when we get there, we can just rest and then get him out of jail in the morning.”

Kaidan raised an eyebrow. “You lot just pick up lots of men who’ve been imprisoned?”

“Oh no, no,” Isi said with a nervous chuckle. “It’s just someone special that doesn’t deserve to be in a cell forever,” she said. 

“Oh, well I suppose that’s understandable,” Kaidan replied.

The cart ride was rather quiet after that. The rocking of the wooden cart had eventually lulled the smallest of the quartet into a premature slumber. She laid her head on her fuzzy comrade’s shoulder as she slept. The men thought it best not to wake her. It was clear that she wasn’t accustomed to the constant traveling. It raised many questions in the head of their newest member. He’d save his inquiries for now though. He’d feel much more comfortable talking once their inside of someplace safe. An inn sounded pretty good right now, honestly. Thankfully they’ll get to one soon. Riften awaits them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This adventure party is growing :D
> 
> I wonder how many more friends they’ll make during the course of things?


	24. Into the Rift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang arrives at Riften. They then rest for the night and then decide to enjoy the city before they attempt another jail break.

As the sun was setting in the evening sky, the traveling party arrived at the Riften Stables. Lydia parked the cart and had everyone get off. Kaidan gently shook the youngest of their group awake. 

“Isioma?” Kaidan said in a slightly hushed tone. “Wake up,” he instructed as he shook her a bit.

Isi woke up with a groan. She huffed. “Huh?” She looked around briefly. “Oh, we’re here…” she said as she climbed out of the cart.

Once everyone was out of the cart, Lydia stabled the horse. She then walked with everyone to the city gates. As they arrived at the gate, they were stopped by a pair of guards. They were blocking the gate, arms crossed as they stood in the path of the group.

“Halt,” one of the guards said. “You lot have to pay a visitor’s tax.” The other then smirked slightly beneath their helm. “200 coppers,” the second had demanded.

Lydia frowned as she stared down the guards. “Visitor’s tax? I’ve never heard of such a thing,” she said as she folded her arms. “What’s the tax even for?” 

The guards scoffed. “The privilege of entering the city, of course. Now pay 200 coppers or shove off,” one said. “What’s it matter, anyway?” questioned the other. The same guard then glanced over the group, their eyes landing on the cat of the quartet. “Make it 400, if you plan on bringing that thing into our city.”

Kaidan then moved his way to the head of the group. He glared slightly at the two guards. “This is obviously a shakedown and we have no time to be swindled by the likes of racist bastards like you,” he said, his voice oozing rage.

The guards looked at each other and tried to shut the angry man up. “All right, all right,” one of the guards said. “We didn’t mean anything by the comment… just trying to get extra coin, y’know?” the other said with a nervous chuckle. “I’ll just…. unlock the gate now.” 

After the guards unlocked the gate, the group were finally allowed in. As they entered the city gates, they heard the guards muttering half-assed apologies.

“Thank you,” Caecus said as he walked up beside Kaidan. “Think nothing of it. It’s just being decent. You’re a good one,” he said to Cae. The Khajiit didn’t know whether to be insulted by the word choice or not.

The group walked through the city, looking for an inn. The streets of Riften were crowded. This was definitely a lively place. Even as night was slowly creeping into the settlement, townspeople were on the move. As they passed through the town center, Hold banners could be seen overhead. The town center also held a number of merchant booths. Each booth housed assorted goods, one notably littered with large bottles of elixirs. A Nord woman was purchasing one from the vendor as the group passed through. Eventually, the adventurers made it to the local inn.

The Bee and Barb Inn was large, fitting for a busy town like this. On the top of the inn were ladders and planks laid discreetly into the roofing, allowing people to avoid the traffic of the ground pathways all together if they so choose.

The group entered the inn and headed for the innkeeper’s counter. Behind the counter was a creature that the youngest of the party had yet to meet yet— an Argonian. The innkeep was a lizardly individual with green and yellowed scales. On the lizard’s head were horns that protruded from the brow. The argonian noticed how they were being stared at by the diminutive redguard and frowned slightly. “Can I help you?” the argonian, who Isi now realized was a female, inquired.

“Yes,” Lydia said in a somewhat loud manner to catch the lizard woman’s attention. “We’d like rooms for tonight. Please.”

“Oh. Very well,” the innkeep said while she quickly counted the group in her head. “So four rooms then?”

“Three,” Isi said after she finally got over the shock of seeing her first argonian.

“Oh?” The inkeep questioned with a look of slight confusion.

Isi felt embarrassed from the looks her comrades and the lizard gave her. It made her feel a bit embarrassed. “I don’t want to sleep alone,” the girl muttered. She looked towards her party members. “I hope it’s okay if I room with one of you guys.”

“Oh,” Lydia said with a soft sigh. “Of course that’s fine, m’lady. You could room with me if you wish,” she said reassuringly.

“Thanks,” Isi said with a sheepish grin. 

“So three rooms then?That’ll be 30 coppers for the night,” the innkeep stated. The housecarl then paid for the beds.

Before the group retired for the night, they decided to rest in the lobby for a while. Also their food rations had practically ran out by now and they were all feeling hungry for something besides jerky. They made their way to a table and sat down. While they sat there, they took in the sight of the place.

Since the inn also functions as a tavern, there were plenty of patrons scattered throughout. Nords mainly, but also some elves, and even a few argonians. There were no other Khajiit, of course. As to be expected, the larger tiger in the party’s company was gathering some attention. Even without sight, Caecus could feel the stares he got. He tried his best to not seem bothered.

Eventually one of the argonians walked up to the table. This lizard was much greener in complexion than the innkeeper. When it spoke, it was clear that it was a male. “Hello,” the beastman said, “I am Talen Jei. I make the food here. What can I get you all? Some pheasant perhaps?” He then paused and glanced at Caecus. “Salmon fillets?”

The Khajiit of the group looked annoyed and huffed. He shook his head, a slight growl in his throat. “Pheasant for all of us.”

“Very well,” Talen said. “And I’ll bring some drinks for you as well.” The argonian then turned tail and left to fetch the food. He later returned with plates of pheasant with leeks on the side. He sat the meals onto the table and then gave each of them drinks. “Enjoy.”

Once served, the party began to stuff their faces. The fowl tasted very good as did the bit of vegetable. After finishing the food, they began to down their drinks. All expect for the littlest of the group. Kaidan raised a brow as he looked at her. “You aren’t thirsty?” He questioned. Isi flashed an awkward little smile before admitting, “I’m not… big on liquor. I mean, I’ve only had it once before.”

“Aye? Well just go slow and try not to fall over on us, okay?” Kaidan said as he tipped his tankard to his lips and greedily chugged the fluids within.

Isi fidgeted briefly but then drank as well. The burn of the alcohol was unpleasant but it had a somewhat enjoyable aftertaste. She didn’t manage to finish her drink though. 

After another round or two of food, everyone felt sufficiently exhausted. They shuffled off to their rooms and then got ready for bed. Each room thankfully possessed two beds. Soon everyone drifted off into a food-coma of a sleep.

The next morning began with the sun rising over the Rift. Our adventure party was still asleep, for the most part. The newest member, Kaidan, had woken up first. He sat up in his bed and yawned. He stretched and brushed his dark hair from his face. Since he was the first to rise, he decided to check on the others and make sure they were alright.

He went into the girls’ room first. Isioma and Lydia were still asleep. The Nordic woman was snoring like a bear as she slept in the bed across from the little redguard. Content with seeing them sleeping soundly, he left them be.

The same couldn’t be said for the animal of the group. Caecus wasn’t resting easy like his female comrades. He was having a nightmare it seemed. The Khajiit had clawed through his bedcovers over in the night, which would no doubt cost a fair amount of coins to replace. He was growling and shaking slightly before he woke up with a breathless gasp. Caecus bolted upright in bed as he tried to catch his breath. He held the side of his head, feeling a scarred patch that showed through his fur. He was silent for a moment, shaking. He hadn’t realized that he wasn’t alone until he heard the floor creak from where Kaidan stood.

“Why’re you in my room,” Caecus asked in an almost bitter tone. 

“Pardon my intrusion,” Kaidan said quietly. “I’m always an early riser.... I was just checking up on you lot.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Do you... have nightmares often?”

Caecus’ body tensed at the question, his fur spiking on end for a moment. He then relaxed and let out a hard sigh. “No... it’s a recent thing.” He explained. “You know.... we haven’t told you what we are yet.”

Kaidan raised his brow in confusion. “Oh?” He sat down on a stool as he listened to the fluffy beastman. “And what are you then?”

“Isi.... Isioma and I, are... Dragonborn. I’m sure you know the legends, yes?” Caecus told him.

“Aye, my guardian used to tell tales when I was young about heroes of old who could smite mighty dragons and eat their souls. Lot of nonsense, I think it,” was the response Kaidan gave.

“It’s crazy but true... About two days ago, when Isi and I were in Whiterun, a dragon attacked the city— We were sent to help because we had survived the attack at Helgen— anyway, we were there with the city guards and only me and her were able to bring the beast down,” Caecus explained. His ears twitched and drooped as he spoke. His face pulled into a frown. “It was terrifying fighting that thing. We’d snuck up behind it but it didn’t go well. I got hit with the tail, flung into a rock and cracked his head,” he said as he gestured to the scar. “But Isi got it worse I feel. I.. saw the dragon swallow her. I had to cut her out of the belly of that bastard.”

“Truly?... I’m sorry you two went through such an ordeal. I can’t even imagine facing down a real dragon. No wonder you have nightmares.” Kaidan said. 

While the men were talking, they failed to notice that Isi had woken up. The diminutive girl wandered out of her room and walked towards Cae’s room. She knocked on the door lightly, despite it being open. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she looked at the men. “Good morning,” she said softly.

“Oh, good morning,” Kaidan said. Caecus simply waved at her.

“Ready to get the day started?” Inquired Isi as she stretched. 

“Yes,” the men responded.

“Good,” she replied. She paused for a moment in thought. “Hey, can we head to the market? I need new clothes.”

“Oh.. I’m not.. one for shopping,” Kaidan mumbled.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” retorted Caecus with a scoff. “I suppose I could use something new too,” he added. 

“Fine, let’s go then,” Kaidan grumbled.

“I’ll go wake up Lydia and let her know,” said Isi as she walked back to her room.

After everyone was dressed and prepared to head out, the party went out into the city. They went out to the town center. The marketplace was already bustling even this early in the morning. The merchant booths were open for business, selling trinkets, weaponry and the like. The group split off as they went to see what they could buy.

Lydia decided to stay with Isi as the little redguard perused the market. Isi bought herself some new clothes. She was delighted to find that they had decent clothing here in the Rift. She was relieved to be able to have something other than the inconvenient and honestly uncomfortable dresses that Whiterun had. She purchased some comfortable yet warm pants and a few tops. Walking around and shopping made her feel happy and reminded her a bit of when she used to go to the mall with her mother. She was enjoying herself. The same couldn’t be said for the housecarl, who had volunteered to carry what her Thane was buying, but soon grew bored of it.

While the ladies were buying clothes, the men of the group were off on their own. Kaidan simply loitered about, not wanting to converse with shopkeepers. Caecus, however, was more sociable. He wandered the stalls and booths. He stopped in front of one booth when he heard the distinct jingle of jewelry. He turned to face the table properly, his head tilted downward towards the display. 

“Welcome to my little shop,” said the lizardly owner when he noticed the potential customer. “Madesi’s goods are of the finest quality in this hold.” said the argonian. Madesi then went silent for a moment as he noticed how the Khajiit’s eyes were. “Ohhh..” he said quietly. He gave an awkward chuckle. “Would you like me to describe the pieces to you?” Caecus offered only a little nod as he fixed his ‘gaze’ on the Argonian in front of him.

Madesi described each of his jewelry pieces in detail, being dramatic as he did so. As he discussed his craftsmanship, he spoke with flourish. But after the Argonian finished speaking, the Khajiit decided he didn’t want anything. He simply walked off after giving a small ‘thank you.’ What the shopkeep failed to notice was that Caecus had swiped a thing or two front the lizard’s stock. He slipped into an alleyway and admired what he took. He pulled a necklace from his sleeve. It felt beautifully made and was silver, judging from the sound. It would soon become apparent that Madesi wasn’t the only one who needed to be more aware of his surroundings. A voice came from above, startling the cat. His head reflexively tilted up. He was surprised by the man who had perched on a catwalk that lay above the rooftops of the buildings.

“A little light in the pockets, Lad?”said the man. He then hopped down from his perch and approached the beastman. The Nord, who was slightly taller than the cat, looked him up and down and started to chuckle. “Heh… never seen a blind man pull the wool over someone’s eyes before,” he commented.

“Name’s Brynjolf,” he said as he extended a hand out to the Khajiit. “And I could use some help with something. I have a feeling you would be a great partner, with those sticky paws of yours.”


	25. Chance Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caecus gets roped into the plans of a silver-tongued Ginger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School's been leaving little room for creativity, but I'll work on getting more and longer chapters out soon  
> Enjoy this short one for now :-)

_“Sticky paws”..._

The phrase struck a nerve with the Khajiit. He couldn’t exactly deny the accusation though. He is a sneak at heart, and the offer was interesting. He huffed and shook the man’s hand and huffed. “I’m Caecus… and what sort of help do you need?”

“Oh, nothing hard. I've got a bit of an errand to perform, but I need an extra pair of hands. And in my line of work, extra hands are well-paid. Though I’m sure you’re familiar with that, Tiger,” Brynjolf said with a smirk. He glanced at the stolen necklace in the cat’s other hand. “I’m sure you could use the spending money, eh Lad?”

Caecus huffed and tucked the object into his pocket. “My wealth is none of your business,” he hissed defensively. 

Brynjolf chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong, lad. Wealth _is_ my business. Now, would you like a taste or not?”

Caecus eventually agreed properly. “Fine. I’ll do what you want… What _is_ it that you want done, anyway?”

The Nordic man was pleased that the cat was indeed willing to do as told. “Simple.... I'm going to cause a distraction and you're going to steal Madesi's silver ring from a strongbox under his stand. Once you have it, I want you to place it in Brand-Shei's pocket without him noticing."

Caecus raised an eyebrow. He just has to steal from the Argonian again, and then frame someone else. It sounds easy enough, but he wanted more details. 

“Which one is Brand-Shei? And why frame him in particular?” Inquired the curious Khajiit.

Brynjolf scoffed lightly at how inquisitive this cat was, but gave response anyway. "Brand-Shei’s the dark elf. His stall’s a short walk from Madesi’s. You’ll know him when you hear him.” He then paused for a moment. “As for why… There's someone that wants to see him put out of business permanently. That's all you need to know,” he stated. He patted the Khajiit on the back. “Now, you tell me when you're ready and we'll get started."

Caecus put his absconded necklace into his satchel and adjusted his clothes. He glanced out of the alley and focused on the marketplace. He could hear that there were a lot of people there, as well as his companions. This would be a bit of a challenge. Simple sleight of hand thefts are easy, he knew how to do that, but stealing something and planting it on someone else in a crowded area would be tad hard for this giant, sightless feline. But he wasn’t going to back out and miss a chance for quick money.

“Okay…” he said as he turned back to Brynjolf. “I’m ready.”

The Riften Marketplace was abuzz. Everyone seemed interested in a stall that had just opened. Even a few guards watched him interest. A red-haired Nordic man was loudly proclaiming that all should gather around to try a new elixir. The townspeople were captivated, yet skeptical of the apparently wondrous ‘Falmer Blood Elixir.’ The remaining three members of the dragonborns’ traveling party were caught up in the charade. The youngest of the trio knew that the potion was most likely a farce, but even she shelled out some coins for it, like other citizens did. There was just something so persuasive about that seller’s voice. Brynjolf always has a way with words.

While the crowd was distracted by the silver tongued by the ginger’s chicanery, they failed to notice the surprisingly nimble sneakings of a certain striped Khajiit. He was crouched as low as he could get, as he picked the lizard’s lockbox and absconded with a ring. He then joined the crowd of people. Nobody paid him much mind. He bumped into the back of an elven man.

“Be careful,” the dark elf swore, his back still turned.

“A thousand pardons, m’lord… Forgive a clumsy blind man,” said the cat as he played up his best defenseless persona. He slipped the ring into the dunmer’s pocket carefully.

Not long after the deed was done, the people who had fallen for the ruse dispersed with their newly acquired elixirs. Some took swigs of the elixir and foolishly felt they were stronger because of it, believing the honeyed words of the resident snake oil salesman.

Caecus met back up with his companions once the crowd began to thin. He caught them just before they’d headed back into the inn. His diminutive friend was the only one who seemed to notice something may be amiss. She chose not to voice such opinions though. “Where were you?” She pondered, innocently.

“Oh, I was just checking out the different stalls. I found something quite nice,” he said. The Khajiit was just about to reach into his satchel before he felt Brynjolf approaching him.

Brynjolf walked towards the group, looking slightly bothered that the cat wasn’t alone. He gave an awkward chuckle as he threw an arm over the cat’s shoulder. “I need to have a word with your friend, alone. Excuse us,” he said as he tried to direct him away from the group.

“—Oh” Isi said, without thinking of consequence. “So that’s what this was,” she remarked. She rolled her eyes. “The guild’s found a potential recruit?” she asked before abruptly being shushed by the ginger nord. He huffed and then looked around. He glanced around to make sure they hadnt been heard. He frowned at the girl slightly, looking at her in a questioning manner. He then directed his gaze at the other two part members. “I’m terribly sorry but I’ll need to borrow both of your friends. We won’t be long,” he said. Lydia and Kaidan wanted to object but stopped when the cat informed them that everything was alright. Once they were reassured, they let Brynjolf take them away. He pulled thethe by the arms as he took as he ushered them off. They headed away from all prying eyes. They turned into the empty alleyway behind some shops. Nobody was around. Now they could talk.  
Brynjolf rubbed his temples in frustration. He looked at his furry accomplice, his composure somewhat regained. “Your little friend is far too observant for my liking,” he said. He then looked at the diminutive third member of this back-alley party. “How’d you know, little mouse, hm?” He inquired. “Because I could tell that your big friend here wasn’t even aware of who my associates are. So I know you didn’t find out from him.”

Isi felt even more minuscule under the scrutionzing gaze of the ginger. She thought briefly about how to approach this. “...I know a lot,” she begaj to say. “I have a bad penchant for knowing secrets that I shouldn’t. I..can’t explain more than that,” she said. 

Brynjolf looked at her skeptically, yet intrigued. “Is that so?...” His brow raised briefly. He then crouched to her level as he looked in her eyes. Or rather, tried to, since she wouldn’t look the redhead straight on. “You’re certainly a strange one, Lass… but a bright wee mouse, yes?”

“Yes, she’s very smart,” Caecus abruptly announced. “She certainly has a gift.”

“A gift indeed,” said Brynjolf. He mused silently for a moment. “In fact, I’ve got a feeling that she may have an even better spark then you, Tiger,” he said as he glanced at the cat. Both the aforementioned feline and his companion chose not to question the sudden nickname. The red-head’s focus went back onto the girl.

“Listen, lass.. I’ve got more jobs for your friend here and I’d be inclined to take you on too,” he said to her. She in turn looked shocked and stuttered out, “Why?” she inquired. Brynjolf sighed. “Because, as you may know, you little spy, my organization's been having a run of bad luck. And I have a strong feeling that you both could be just what I need to make my guild respectable again.” He then reached in his pocket, pulling out a coin purse. He jingled the sack, the coins within it clanking together. “Plus there’ll be plenty of coin in it for the both of you.” 

Brynjolf then tossed the coin purse to Caecus. He was about to leave when he informed them of where to meet up. “The Guild resides in the Ragged Flagon. Get there in one piece and we'll see if you two’ve really got what it takes." He then started to walk off, but Isi suddenly ran over to him, grabbing his sleeve. 

“Wait a second,” she demanded. He raised an eyebrow at her for stopping him. She quickly let go of his arm. “Sorry,” she said quietly. “But I just thought of something… Would you by any chance know precisely where the jail is?” He looked curious yet confused by the inquiry. “Yes, but why’s a ragtag group like yours need to head there?” Isi then explained that an associate of theirs needed to be released. He obliged, deciding that the trip to the Flagon could wait a little while longer. He told them where the jail was and then left them be. He had to go inform his own associates about the potential members that he’d found.

Now that they knew where to go, Isi and Cae met back up with Lydia and Kaidan. The party then headed to the Riften jail. It was about time that they went about freeing the prisoner. The little redguard couldn’t help but wonder how everyone would react upon meeting her ‘friend.’ A crazy cat who talks to bugs is sure to garner some interesting reactions.


	26. Note From The Author

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief message in regards to the fate of this story

Hello readers,

I really appreciate the views that my first ever fanfic received. As of the time I’m writing this, I’ve hit nearly 3k views: 2,806. It makes me immensely happy to know that there are people out there who enjoy my work.

However, I must let you know that I will not be continuing this story. I had no set goals when I started writing and made things up as I went along. I will be directing my focus on to different things and will be abandoning this fanfic. I’m currently focused on my newest fic: The Stranger’s Dawn. I might even make more Skyrim stories in the future, if my series goes the way I hope. My first story will not be forgotten though. You can always read over the old postings. I may recycle ideas from this story, and use them in new works, if I see fit. 

I don’t want to make this final update too long. I just wanted to make this so that I don’t keep anyone waiting on an update that will never come. Again, thank you for the support that you have shown me and I hope that you will stick around to watch me grow as a writer. For now, farewell.

\- Fae


End file.
